With You
by Paopu Fruits and Sea-salt Bars
Summary: Getting to know a person is always hard. Falling in love with someone that you're not supposed to, is worse. What's stronger, the calling of the heart or the logic of the mind? AU Namixas, Sokai, Rion, Tequa and more.
1. Prologue

She stood only a few feet away from him, her eyes swimming in tears. She had promised herself to never bother him again, to never see him again. Her heart ached just seeing his eyes, those beautiful sky blue eyes, and the pain in them. She forced a smile, trying her hardest to make it seem genuine. But something told her he knew it was fake, he could always read her like an open book.

He took a step forward, his eyes determined, seeing only her. Everything around him blurred, only his eyes focused on her. He had to tell her, he HAD to. She needed to hear his words; she needed to know his feelings. They had played the stupid cat and mouse game for too long now, the truth needed to be spoken. Her eyes, her cerulean blue eyes, the eyes he loved so much looked a bit hesitant, but mostly he saw her hurt. And it was because of him that she was hurting.

But no more.

She would know, she would know how much she meant to him, how much he wanted her in his life.

As he drew closer, she took a few steps back.

She closed her eyes, and prayed for the strength to walk away, to end it here. She had promised herself and him that she would never reach him again. That she would leave and never be seen again. She'd leave the country if she must!

She opened her eyes, he was much closer now. She willed her legs to move, but they wouldn't respond. Tears streamed down her heart shaped face; she had to make a run for it.

She turned on her heel and began to move.

But he was quick, he managed to grab onto her wrist. She could almost feel the electricity running through her entire body, it only happened with him. Only he could make her feel that way.

"Naminé." He breathed. "Listen to me, please."

She closed her eyes, why was it that her name sounded so beautiful when he said it?

"Just please hear me out!"

She shook her head, not having the courage to speak, feeling her voice would betray her.

"Please..." he sounded so...hurt, his voice was cracking a bit. "Just please...listen to what I have to say."

"N-no." She faltered. She tried to pry her wrist away from him, but it was pointless, he would not let go. "L-let go Roxas."

"Not until you listen." He said, his voice was a bit more firm, but the pain was evident.

"I want to keep my promise." She whispered.

He blinked. "Promise...?"

She took a deep breath, and slowly turned to face him. Her cheeks were streaming with tears, her eyes were a bit red, and her lips trembled. "I promised that after everything was over, I'd leave. That you'd never see me, or hear from me again."

It hit like a ton of bricks, the promise he made her make 5 months ago. He now regretted it deeply; he wished he could take it back. "Naminé, you don-"

"I said I'd keep my promise, and I will." She hiccupped. "I've caused enough trouble as it is."

She yanked her arm away from his reach and ran from him as fast as she could. She couldn't bear it anymore, the closer she was to him, the more pain and problems there would be. This was for the best, for all parties involved.

_I would have loved to stay...I would have given everything I own to stay; you mean more to me than anything else. But...you and I just can't be, Roxas._

_I can't live without you, but I can't stay with you._


	2. Fate

**Hello all! This is my first Kingdom Hearts fanfic, hope you all like it. I've always loved AU fics that had bands in them, but I wanted to give it a twist. So here's to hoping it works out!**

**Square owns Kingdom Hearts, I own the new characters only.**

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><p><strong>Fate<strong>

**Friday, May 8**

_5 Months earlier…._

In the ripe heat of summer, three young men lounged around while drinking soda from glass bottles. The oldest, a youth of 21, sat under a palm tree, his long silvery locks almost sticking to his handsome features. His emerald orbs, while normally soul-piercing, held a bored gaze. He was tall, with a good physical build; he could easily be confused for a model. He turned to face his other companions, who looked as equally bored as him.

The boy closest to him was a bit shorter than him, if you counted his hair out of the equation. The 20 year-old had his chestnut brown hair in large spikes that went in different directions. He was a bit thinner, his build wasn't as muscular, but he was fit. His sky blue eyes kept looking over to the ocean, it held a strange fascination to him.

Beside the brunette was a young blond, of equal physical build, the same eye color. This 20 year-old had his golden hair spiked as well, but unlike the brunette's wild spikes, the blond's hair was styled towards his right, looking windswept. His eyes looked bored, but to any other person, he looked angry, his eyes seemed to be unable to convey any other emotion.

The silverette stood from his spot and stretched before turning to face the other two. "Should we get going? We need to get ready for tonight's gig."

The brunette stood up from his place and dusted his swim trunks. "Yeah, if we don't get there early Tifa will pound us from here to the moon."

The blond nodded. "You guys ready for this? This will be the last time we play in Seventh Heaven."

"More like the last time we play in Destiny Islands, period." The brunette corrected.

"Well, if we want to make it to the big leagues, we need to be more than just an underground group." The silverette said. "Moving to Traverse Town will the first step before we hit the big time, they're holding auditions for some of the biggest record labels."

"I hope we get discovered!" The brunette said enthusiastically, punching his palm.

"You know that it takes time, right Sora?" The blond said. "It doesn't just happen over night."

"Do you always have to rain on my parade Roxas?" Sora frowned. "I'm trying to be optimistic!"

"And I'm trying to be realistic." Roxas countered. "It's the truth anyway, ask Riku."

Riku smiled. "Let's just get today over with, then we can worry about the future."

They walked away from their favorite spot and moved through the crowded beach. When they reached the parking lot they were halted by a tiny girl. She had large green eyes and brown hair that curled outwards, her smile was wider than anyone else's. She was wearing a t-shirt that had the three of them in the front and at the bottom it read "#1 fan!"

"I can't believe you guys are leaving the Islands!" She squealed. "You guys will be famous!"

"Selphie, calm down." Riku smiled. "We're not famous yet."

"You certainly are here!" She said. "But just remember, when you guys get interviewed later, don't forget that I'm your number one fan!"

"I don't think we'll forget that, trust me!" Sora reassured her. "Right, Rox?"

"Don't worry Selphie," He smiled. "You can manage our fan club when we become famous."

"I already manage your fansite!" She beamed. "I started it two years ago when you guys had your first gig ever!"

Sora's eyes widened. "Really? Holy crap, I barely remember that day!"

"You puked from the nerves." Riku reminded him. "On some random person's shoes."

"Oops."

"Anyways, Selphie we have to get going." Roxas walked around her and opened the door to his car.

"Ooh, I can't believe it! The last performance!" She squealed. "I'll be taking lots of pictures to update the site!"

She waved goodbye to them and ran off towards the beach.

"Feels good to know we have a fan club of sorts." Riku smiled as he got in the back seat.

"Yeah, and hopefully it'll get bigger!" Sora grinned as he got in the front seat. "We'll be the biggest rock band ever!"

"Let's hope so." Roxas smiled as he started the car and headed to his and Sora's home.

When they arrived at Sora's house, they were greeted by Stella, Sora's mom. She had a kind face and bright sky blue eyes, just like her son. She was wearing a simple white dress and an apron tied to her waist. "You boys should eat before you leave!" She smiled as she hugged her son and her nephew, Roxas. "I made flat bread pizza, so help yourselves!"

"Awesome!" Sora grinned. "Hey mom, did Van call?"

Van, or rather Vanitas, was Sora's older brother who always drove them to Seventh Heaven since Sora and Roxas weren't 21 yet. But since Sora knew the owner of the bar, they always got in freely.

"Yes he did." Stella smiled. "He said he was getting off from work at 5:30."

"That gives us about an hour before we go on." Riku murmured. "We should go over the songs we're doing."

"That's a good idea." Roxas agreed.

Riku took a piece of pizza before biding goodbye and going to his house across the street. Sora stuffed his face and then ran to go shower, leaving Roxas to eat in the kitchen island with his aunt Stella."Are you all nice and packed?" She smiled as she handed him a glass of pink lemonade.

Roxas nodded. "Yeah, I finished this morning. All that's left is to get on the plane to Traverse Town tomorrow morning."

Stella walked to Roxas and stroked Roxas's hair. "I can't believe this day has actually come. The day you and Sora leave the nest."

"We're almost 21, Mom." Roxas smiled. "Honestly if it weren't for financial reasons, I think we would have left the house when we turned 18, just like Van."

Stella hummed. "I know, but I won't any more babies left in my house…besides Noctis, of course."

Noctis was Sora and Vanitas's father. He had midnight black hair, which Vanitas had inherited. Noctis was a tall, kind man who had a small case of narcolepsy. Seriously, the man could fall asleep anywhere, much to the amusement of his family.

"We'll come back to visit every now and then." Roxas grinned.

"Even when you three hit the big time?" She raised a skeptical eyebrow.

"Yes, even then." He laughed.

"What kind of sons would we be if we didn't come back?"

Aunt and nephew turned to see Sora walking down the stairs with a towel on his neck. His brown spikes looked less messy than usual, he looked almost normal.

"Even Van comes back home, and he's pure evil." Sora grinned.

"Sora..." Stella said in a warning tone. "Don't talk about your brother that way!"

"It's true!" Sora defended. "Ever since we were kids, he's alway been evil! Ask Roxas!"

"You're exaggerating, Sora." Stella said calmly. "Van's just tough around the edges, but he's a good boy."

"To you, maybe..." Roxas heard Sora mutter.

After Roxas finished his shower he went into Sora's room holding a moth-eaten spiral notebook. "Okay, so I was trying to come up with a song the other day." He sat down on Sora's studio desk while Sora twirled around in his chair.

"Ooh, what about?" Sora asked as he moved closer to Roxas.

Roxas opened the notebook and flipped through the pages, the majority of which were full of scribbles and crossed out words, which was almost impossible to read as Roxas had terrible handwriting. He finally came across the page he was looking for and showed what he had written down. Luckily for Roxas, Sora had the gift of being able to read Roxas's chicken scratch.

"This is a break up song." Sora looked at Roxas. "What gives? All the songs we have are about living life to the fullest. You said that you wanted to avoid any 'sappy' stuff."

"I did..." Roxas sighed. "It's just that I found some pictures of our vacation to Twilight Town and..."

"You saw Olette." Sora knew where this was going. About two years ago, the entire family decided to take a nice vacation to Twilight Town for a month during the summer as celebration for Sora and Roxas graduating from high school. There, Sora and Roxas befriended several people and got to taste the best ice cream flavor ever, Sea- salt. More importantly, they met a trio of friends; Hayner, Pence and Olette.

Hayner was a tall blond with a short temper and an impulsive streak. Pence, an average brunette was a bit more grounded, though at times he would come up with the strangest ideas and had a fascination with the paranormal. And then there was Olette. She was the sensitive, well mannered and respectful one. She was slender with caramel colored hair, that curled at the tips, with almond shaped forest green eyes. She was incredibly kind, but if she needed to be stern, she would be. Roxas developed a crush on her almost immediately, and much too soon they began dating. Roxas asked her out the fourth day they knew each other, to the shock of all present.

Roxas had severe trust issues and this was strange, to say the least. But regardless, the two dated up until the day the family had to return to Destiny Islands. For several months they kept their relationship going, Roxas even saved his money and visited Olette a few times! Whenever Sora asked Roxas how things were going, Roxas was enthusiastic. They dated for a year and a half before...

"Anyways, I just started writing down words and eventually got something to make a bit of sense." Roxas spoke, bringing Sora back to the present. "What do you think so far?"

Sora looked down at the notebook and read the few lines there.

_**I tried so hard to let go of you, the memory of your face, your voice and your love. I even threw away your picture I kept in my wallet.**_

_**I was a fool for what happened, I know that it's too late to say this but...**_

_**I'm sorry, I'm so sorry**_

_**I'm sorry for not telling you what you meant to me, for not letting you in.**_

_**I hesitated for a bit and let you slip through my fingers, I have no one to blame but myself.**_

Sora stared at the lyrics, then he looked back at Roxas. "Is this...about Olette?"

"Huh?" Roxas blinked. "No, it's just a generic break up song."

"Oh." Sora looked at the lyrics again. He wasn't convinced, but it was best to not force the issue, especially when they had a gig in an hour. "Well, it's pretty sad."

Roxas rolled his eyes. "That's the whole point to a break up song, dummy."

"I know that!" Sora hissed.

"It's okay, one day you will understand." Roxas said wisely. "The day you actually manage to get a girl, you'll understand."

Was it really necessary for Roxas to remind Sora about his nonexistent love life? "Whatever, we should head down stairs and see if Van came home."

Roxas nodded and with that, Sora left the room as Roxas grabbed his notebook and stared at it. _If Sora could tell that this was about Olette, then I'm too obvious._He rolled up the notebook and placed it in his back pocket and left the room, closing the door shut behind him.

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><p>The sun's warm rays felt so delightful on her skin, the sweet spring breeze playing with her sun kissed hair, a young woman of 20 years sat on a small hill. She truly enjoyed the sight before her; the lush green pasture, the soft earth beneath her, the multicolored flora that surrounded her, but most of all the blue sky above her. She felt like she could stare at it's immense majesty for hours, making shapes in the clouds. She looked down at the sketchbook in her lap; she had drawn an angel sitting on a cloud, playing a large harp. She took her pencil and signed her name at the bottom corner.<p>

_Naminé Martin_

The young blonde smiled at her art and closed her sketchbook, she then got up and dusted herself and pondered how bad an idea it was to wear a white dress while sitting on the dirt. She walked up the hill and saw the tiny country side village that she adored. She had lived her entire life in this quiet little town, she never imagined a life beyond the hills and mountains. She knew that the biggest city was Traverse Town, which was about four hours away, but she never felt the need to got there.

Naminé walked up the brick path that would lead her to her home, Mrs. Potts Home for the Children. She loved it there, the ambiance, the children, the staff, but mostly loved the Matron, Mrs. Potts. She was a kind-hearted woman with the gift of being able to love easily, and Naminé greatly admired her. The orphanage was a large three story home with twenty rooms, it was once an old monastery, but after it was abandoned, Mrs. Potts and her husband rebuilt the place and added many rooms for the children left behind. Naminé knew that she and the other orphans were truly blessed, they could have ended in terrible homes, but they were lucky enough to live here.

But, sadly, as the years came, Naminé knew she could not remain in the orphanage forever. She would turn 21 within 5 months, and she would have to find a home of her own...

Well, not entirely on her own. She had her twin brother Snow, after all.

Snow had a thin build, he was barely an inch and half taller than her, they both had the same large cerulean sea eyes, the same flaxen hair. While she had focused on art, he focused on music; he was an accomplished singer and was well known in the town for his dulcet tone. Naminé knew how to sing, but she was much too shy to ever sing lead. Instead she learned to play the piano, to accompany Snow on several occasions, especially during the holidays when the orphanage help plays. She remembered that he had left to Traverse Town a day ago to buy more supplies for the orphanage and should be returning soon.

"Naminé!" She had barely taken a step up the small stairs to the orphanage's gate. It was Snow, he was running towards her, a wide grin plastered on his face.

"Brother!" She ran straight to him and gave him a welcoming hug. "How was your trip?"

"Excellent!" He said excitedly. "Guess what I just signed up for!"

"What?" She smiled.

"You know that Traverse Town is the best place to make yourself know right?" He breathed.

"Yes." She looked at his ecstatic expression, could he...?

"I signed up for an open audition!" He boomed opening his arms.

"Really? Oh Snow, that's wonderful!" She squealed, as she hugged him again. "What is the audition for?"

"For the most successful record label, Kingdom Hearts Records!" He beamed. "They are scouting for their next talent."

"Oh goodness, this must truly be the work of Fate!" She giggled. "When is the audition?"

"Tomorrow night, at 7 o'clock, at the House Of Utada! You'll come with me, won't you?"

"But of course!" Naminé beamed. "I couldn't miss this for the world!"

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><p>"Why is this place always so crowded?" Roxas muttered as he tried to make his way to the back room of Seventh Heaven. There were several other people, a few were actual performers, most were not. "I hate this room, it's so small."<p>

"I can hardly breathe in here." Sora gasped. "Stupid cigarettes!"

"Shush, Sora." Riku whispered. "Anyone hears you saying that and your face will meet the ground."

Sora scowled, but keep his witty retort to himself. Roxas looked around the room, it barely fit about fifteen people and yet he swore there was twice that amount. At that moment a busty raven haired young woman entered the room with an unpleased look while cracking her knuckles.

"Any one here that's not performing, leave the room now!" Her nostrils flared as people began to make way for the entrance. It sounded like a stampede. "And I do believe there's a no smoking sign on BOTH sides of the door, so unless you value your privates, you'd better smoke outside!"

With that said only about ten people remained in the room. The young woman huffed and walked towards the three guys who were standing against the wall.

"Tifa, you are awesome!" Sora beamed, giving her a light hug. "I could't stand the smell anymore!"

"I hate the smell as much as you do, Sora." She smiled, her reddish brown eyes sparkling. "People just don't seem to know how to read these days."

"Or they just chose to ignore the sign." Riku shrugged.

"Bottom line, people are stupid." Roxas said to which the others agreed.

Tifa Lockheart was the owner of the bar, she was like the big loving sister that they never had and it helped that she was 8 years older than them. She was very kind and nurturing, she knew how to cook and looked after others as if she were their mother. Everyone in Destiny Islands knew who Tifa was, if not for her personality, then for her looks. Most men and even the women often fantasized about Tifa. Her long legs, her large bosom, her beautiful face, the girl had it all; brains, brawn and beauty. But thankfully, Roxas and neither Sora for that matter, could ever see Tifa in that manner. To them, she would always be their surrogate big sister.

Roxas looked up the entrance to see a guy with a lean build, wild spiky hair, just like Sora's. Except this guy's hair was black and he had a deranged look on his face, and he had yellow contacts. It was Vanitas, Sora's older brother by three years. He, unlike Sora who liked to wear bright to medium colors, Vanitas wore mostly blacks and reds.

"Hey, idiots." He greeted nonchalantly. He looked down right demonic in the darkened room, mostly because of his contacts. Even Tifa backed away from Vanitas, to which he smirked. "Don't be scared, Tifa." He hissed. "I don't bite...much." He leaned in closer and bared his teeth at her before making a biting gesture.

Tifa shuddered. "Back off, or I'll punch you." She raised her fist and looked at him dead in the eyes.

"No problem," He smirked. "I like it rough anyway."

"Van, can't you honestly go five seconds without being so creepy?" Sora looked pissed, but he did have a point. Roxas never did like Vanitas. When they were kids, Vanitas always hid in the shadows and would jump out and scare him and Sora.

Vanitas turned to face his younger brother with a murderous look. "Sora, can't you shut the fuck up for five seconds?"

Sora opened his mouth to reply, but Tifa stepped in between them. "Whoa, the only fighting that goes on in this bar is my fists to someone's face. "

Vanitas made a 'humph' noise before taking a seat on one of the nearby lounge couches. He pulled out his mp3 and put his headphones on.

Tifa cleared her throat. "Anyway, I came here to tell you guys some news."

Roxas's heart beat quickened, she wouldn't cancel their performance for tonight, would she? He looked at the other two and judging by the looks on their faces they must have thought the same, too. Roxas looked back at Tifa, and to his surprise, she was smiling warmly at them.

"I got a call from my friend Aerith in Traverse Town..." Tifa's smiled broadened. "...and she told me that she managed to book you guys an audition for Kingdom Hearts Records."

Sora's jaw dropped, Riku's eyes nearly came out of their sockets and Roxas's brain momentarily shut down. _Seriously! We have an open audition!_

"Really!" Sora boomed. "KH Records? THE KH Records!"

Tifa laughed. "The one and only!"

The three guys stared yelling at the top of their lungs, hugging Tifa and giving each other high fives.

"This is amazing, Tifa!" Riku exhaled. "Is there anything we can do to make it up to you?"

Tifa placed a finger on her chin thoughtfully. "Actually, yes."

"Name it!" Roxas smiled.

"I get to be the first to find out how things go," She said playfully. "And, you guys go out there and rock our worlds!"

"Deal!" Sora beamed.

The others laughed as Roxas could not believe how lucky they were for this chance. Originally, they were gonna wait outside the House of Utada until it was their turn for the open audition, hoping for a chance. But now, now they had that chance! It was the chance they needed, the chance to live out their life long dream.

"What time is our audition?" Roxas looked at Tifa.

"At 6:30pm sharp, so don't be late!"

Roxas had never believed in fate before, but now, he felt as if he had been blessed by it.

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><p><strong>So what do you think? Please let me know!<strong>


	3. The Audition

**I do not own Disney, Kingdom Hearts or Final Fantasy! I do own this plot and the new characters though!**

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><p><strong>The Audition<strong>

**Saturday, May 9**

Roxas woke up nice and early, despite their plane leaving at 1pm. The flight to Traverse Town would take about two hours, and then they needed to get to their new apartment in the Third District. That would take several hours while they settled in and unpacked, but they would hardly have time to relax. They had a very important appointment at the House of Utada at 6:30pm. Tifa's friend, Aerith Gainsborough, one of the managers, was able to get a secured time slot for an open mic audition. The boys originally had planned to wait outside on the side walk like all of the other hopefuls, and just wait until it was their turn.

Roxas was still pumped over the news so much that he hardly slept that night. He could barely believe their luck!

He moved his blankets off his body and looked around his room; the room had belonged to Vanitas until the raven-haired young man moved from the house at the age of 18. For the majority of his life, Roxas had always shared a room with Sora. They had bunk beds, which Roxas was always on the top one, as Sora had a terrible fear of heights. They had always been inseparable, despite the fact that Sora was about 5 months older than Roxas, the blond always defended the brunette, and it also didn't help Sora that Vanitas was one hell of a bully. Roxas shook his head, he was getting nostalgic already. He got out of his bed and looked around.

When he had first moved in to the room, Vanitas had left the room in dreary conditions; the walls were painted with dark red, almost blood color. Worse yet, he had used other red hues and gave the walls a bizarre stripe pattern, it had looked like muscle tissue. And the walls had been decorated with posters of Vanitas's favorite band, The Unversed. After Roxas moved in, he gave the room more earthy colors, several shades of browns and oranges, more bright and befitting of Roxas's persona. Naturally, Roxas filled up the walls with posters of his favorite band, The Organization.

Roxas had been a devoted fan since he was thirteen years old. Back then, the group's leader, Axel Flynn, was barely 17, and Roxas remembered wanting to be just like his favorite singer. Axel had long flaming red hair with a widow's peak, rather small eyebrows and thick, shoulder-length, bright red hair styled into slicked-back spikes. His eyes are a bright emerald color and he had purple reverse-teardrop shaped tattoos under each eye, which left quite the impression on Roxas's young mind.

But now at almost 21, Roxas felt it was a bit silly. They looked cool as hell, but weren't as awesome as they once seemed.

Roxas looked at his dresser and picked up his cell and looked at the time. It was barely 7:45am. On the dresser were the clothes, along with his shoes, that he had laid out for the day, as the drawers and his entire closet were empty. He also has a small backpack where he put his comb, deodorant, lotion, passport, wallet, iPod, PSP, and his lyric notebook. He made a mental note to buy a map of Traverse Town at the airport.

He sighed. At this hour there wasn't much to do, so he decided to go eat something before taking a shower. Waking up Sora early would be a good idea, too. If not, Sora would not wake up until late. That guy could sleep so soundly, Roxas would be willing to bet that if given the possibility, Sora could sleep for an entire year.

Roxas left his room and made his way downstairs into the kitchen, where he found his "parents". Stella was cooking something on the stove, while Noctis was reading the morning paper at the dining table, which was right next to the kitchen. Roxas made his way through the doorway as Noctis looked up from his newspaper.

"Morning, Rox." He smiled. "You're up early."

"Well, today's the big day." Roxas said as he walked to over to Stella and kissed her cheek.

"Don't remind me!" Stella looked at Roxas with teary eyes. "I can't believe my babies are leaving!" She wiped her tears on her apron.

"Stella, honey…" Noctis stood up and walked over and hugged his wife. She leaned into his shoulder and cried on his sleeve. "You knew this would happen sooner or later, darling."

"I know…" She sniffled. "But they're my sons! I don't want them to leave the nest."

"Mom…" Roxas stroked her silvery-blonde hair. "I know that I'm not your real son, you're my aunt, but to me, it doesn't matter. A real mom isn't the one who gave birth to me, but the one who raised me. You're my mom no matter what."

Stella gave a small chuckle, tears streaming down her face. "I never cared that you're my brother's son. You're my little boy, too, Roxy."

"I thank you both for all that you've done for me. You took me in when you could have just left me." Roxas leaned his head to the side, tears threatening to spill from his sky blue orbs.

"There was no way we'd abandon you, Rox." Noctis smiled. "How could we leave a defenseless two year old to his own luck?"

"Related or not, we would never abandon you, Roxas." Stella pulled away from her husband to wrap her arms around the tall blond in front of her. "We love you as much as we love our own sons."

He truly was lucky. His aunt and uncle took him in when they didn't need to; they could have sent him to a foster home, but they kept him. Because of that, Roxas knew his other family members, his cousins, and his grandparents. With tears now flowing down his own cheeks, he wrapped his arms around his mother, while Noctis pat Roxas's messy bed hair.

"We love you, Roxy."

_Wait…that voice…_

Roxas looked over his shoulder to find that not only was Sora behind him, but that he had somehow managed to wrap his arms around Roxas, all while smiling like the dork that Sora is.

"Hi." Sora batted his eyelashes innocently as Stella broke into a fit of giggles.

"Wow, Sora," Noctis grinned. "I think this is a new record. You never wake up this early!"

"Are you kidding? I couldn't sleep from all the excitement!" Sora beamed.

"That makes two of us." Roxas smiled.

"Oh you two!" Stella slapped each boy in the shoulders lightly. She turned back to Noctis as he hugged her.

"Don't cry Mom!" The two boys hugged her.

"Come on, darling," Noctis kissed the top of her head. "They promised they'd call and visit every now and then."

Stella sniffled.

"Besides, when they're gone…we'll have the house all to ourselves…" his voice and his face was highly suggestive, but topped it off when he winked at Stella.

"DAD!"

Both boys let go of their mother, Sora made gagging noises, Roxas looked disgusted, Noctis laughed and Stella shook her head while rolling her eyes.

"No person ever wants to know that their parents are still going at it!" Sora hissed.

"Sora, you're almost 21!" Noctis laughed. "You still can't –"

"Nope! I don't care how old I get; it's just sick and wrong!" Sora shook his head wildly, like when a dog tries to rid its ears of water.

Stella face palmed. "Alright, enough of that. Boys, go wash up for breakfast."

With that, Noctis walked back to the dining table, Sora and Roxas walked to the downstairs bathroom across the living room, while Stella finished making pancakes.

"Seriously, I am so psyched about today!" Sora balled up his fists energetically.

"I know, I can't wait for the audition!" Roxas laughed.

* * *

><p>She could hear the sounds of doors opening and closing along with many different voices of children. The hallway sounded like a stampede, the many little feet running around, the excited murmuring, and the voice of an older woman asking the children to not run in the hallway.<p>

Naminé opened her eyes, slowly trying to adjust to the bright light coming in from the window by her bed. She rubbed her eyes and looked around her room; her eyes were beginning to adjust to her surroundings, she could see all the various drawings that covered up her white walls. Most of the drawings were from her class of kindergarten students she taught. The majority was done in crayon, a few of them were with finger paints, and an even less were simple pencil art. She smiled warmly; she honestly could not imagine herself living anywhere else. Even when she had to leave the orphanage, she would never leave the beautiful village. After all, Serenity Meadows was her only home, and the only place she would ever call home.

Her thoughts were interrupted when someone knocked on her door.

"Naminé!" An older woman called. "Are you awake?"

"Yes!" she replied, quickly getting out of bed and putting on her slippers and attempting to haphazardly do her bed. "Come in!"

The large white door opened and into the room stepped an older woman. She was around her mid-sixties; a bit short, kind faced, and round, like a teapot. She wore a lilac colored dress over a faded pink apron, her white hair was swept into a small bun at the back of her head, and she wore a small beret that for some reason always reminded Naminé of a teapot's lid.

She walked over to the young blonde and smiled warmly at her. "Good morning, child."

"Good morning, Mrs. Potts." Naminé replied, giving her a hug.

Mrs. Potts ran her fingers through Naminé's soft hair, making the young girl sigh contently. About, 20 years ago, on a cool spring evening, a young, pregnant woman collapsed at the entrance of the orphanage, her life slipping away. Mr. and Mrs. Potts brought her inside their home, and tended to frail girl, trying their hardest to keep her among the living. But it soon became apparent to them, that the young woman was in labor. Her long blonde hair was sticking to her sweat drenched face; her breathing was becoming increasingly difficult. Mr. Potts had left to get the doctor, while Mrs. Potts and a few women of the staff did their best to assist the young woman. But unfortunately, by the time the doctor had arrived, the young lady had passed away, but not before giving birth to a pair of twins; a boy and a girl.

Naminé and Snow had first heard the story of their mother when they were fifteen. This caused a big impact on the twins, particularly Snow. He became determined to know of their roots, where their mother was from, their father and the reason why their mother ended up by the orphanage. Mrs. Potts told them as much as she could recall, sadly, a name was never given. The beautiful young mother never mentioned her own name, she could barely even breathe.

But even after all this time, despite her own curiosity over her mother's identity, Naminé felt that she already had a mother, Mrs. Potts. She was warm, caring, gentle, but strict if she needed to be. Naminé knew that she spoke not just for herself or her brother, but for all of the orphans when said that Mrs. Potts was the only mother they knew. And the only one they needed.

"I just wanted to let you know that today you won't need to give art classes." Mrs. Potts smiled.

"Why not?" The young girl looked almost aghast.

"Your brother asked me to tell you that he'd like for you to play the piano while he practices." Mrs. Potts replied. "He's been practicing his vocal scales all morning, he's so anxious."

Naminé giggled. "I bet, he's been waiting on this opportunity his entire life." She sighed and looked around her room. "I can always do a lesson before bed time."

Mrs. Potts sat on the corner of Naminé's bed, motioning to the blonde to take the space next to her. When Naminé joined her, the older woman began unbraiding Naminé's loose braid. Oh how Naminé loved moments like this; feeling of her beloved mother figure's fingers gently combing through her flaxen hair. The young girl closed her cerulean blue eyes, feeling as if she were in some sort of trance.

"I wonder if the children would like water colors…" Naminé mused.

"You've always been a devoted artist." Mrs. Potts draped the blonde strands over Naminé's right shoulder. "You took a hobby that you had as a child, and made it your gift. You gave your love of art to others, and that love inspired more passion for art."

Naminé blushed. "Ever since I was little, I was always fascinated by the complexity of drawing. A flower can be a simple thing, like a daisy, or an intricate work of beauty, like a rose. I've always believed that anyone can learn to draw lines and connect them to make something else, but no one can teach you to have a passion for it."

"You're born with it." The two said simultaneously.

Naminé turned to look at Mrs. Potts and the two embraced, with the older woman planting a kiss on the artist's forehead. "My future is in art, I just know it."

"There are many branches of art, my dear." Mrs. Potts smiled as she slowly let go of Naminé. "Never forget that."

"I know." Naminé smiled as she straightened up.

"Now, get ready for breakfast." Mrs. Potts lightly patted Naminé's lap. "Today will be a long day."

Mrs. Potts gave Naminé another kiss on the forehead before leaving the room. The blonde walked over to her closet and began examining her small collection of dresses. The plus side of teaching art? She actually got paid for it, not as much as an actual school teacher, but it was still decent pay. She picked out a beautiful off-the-shoulders orange summer dress, she had been saving it for a special occasion and this was definitely it.

The day that her brother's dream would come true.

* * *

><p>The air was a bit heavy, but maybe that was a given since airports are always crowded with travelers. Roxas set down his suit case on the conveyor belt as Sora and Riku followed suit. Each of them had smaller packs that carried their more important belongings, as well as something to keep them occupied during the long flight.<p>

"Well, this is it, guys." Riku sighed.

"The beginning of the rest of our lives." Sora exhaled.

"Man, that was cheesy." Roxas snickered. "You couldn't have said anything better than that?"

"Hey, it's true!" Sora pouted. "This is where it begins! We're stepping into the doorway of adulthood!"

"Wow, that was the most pussyfied thing that I've ever heard."

The three of them turned to see Vanitas walking towards them, wearing dark colors as always. Some of the girls looked at him with a mixture of fear and interest. Everyone else…just seemed to stay away from the pale-skinned brunette as much as possible. This brought something to Roxas's mind…how was Vanitas so damn pale if they lived in a tropical island?

Behind Vanitas were Noctis and Stella, Roxas could see that Stella was trying to hide her tears, as Noctis comforted her by giving her one-armed hugs.

"You know, that's one thing I'm actually gonna miss." Vanitas said as he crossed his arms, while placing his balance on his left side. Roxas noticed that some of the nearby girls sighed amorously. Roxas rolled his eyes.

"What? You're actually gonna miss me?" Sora looked quite shocked, like a kid who had been told that Santa was coming to deliver presents on his birthday.

"Pfft, yeah sure." Vanitas laughed. "No, what I meant is that I will miss the shit that comes out of your stupid mouth, dip shit."

"You do know that we're in public, right?" Riku raised an eye brow.

"What about it?" Vanitas snapped.

"There's little kids around." Roxas stated it like it was obvious.

Vanitas rolled his yellow eyes. "You do know that I don't give a fuck, right?"

Sora's fists shook. "I just wanna punch you so bad…!"

"Like you actually would." Vanitas sneered.

Sora raised his fist, but Riku grabbed onto Sora's hoodie. "Dude, you really want to cause a scene before we leave?"

Sora looked at his best friend and sighed, his shoulder slumping down. He turned to look at his older brother and mouthed 'I fucking hate you'.

Vanitas simply gave half a smile, and flipped off Sora.

At that moment, Noctis and Stella came up beside their oldest son, who had promptly shoved his hands in his jean pockets. Stella's eyes were red and puffy, but even then, she still managed to give a heartfelt smile. Noctis's eyes were rather watery, no matter how cool he looked, seeing him like this always drove home the point that he was only human.

"Well," Stella hiccupped. "This is it."

Sora took in a sharp breath, Roxas didn't have to look at him to know that Sora was about to cry. If this dragged on, so would he. He looked over at Riku, even the silverette was getting choked up.

"You boys, sorry, I mean, men…" Noctis gave a weak laugh. "You young men better look after yourselves. We won't be around to babysit you."

"Promise me…" Stella's voice was breaking by now. "That you'll never be too busy to call."

"Don't worry, Mom, we'll call every week." Roxas assured her.

She wiped away her tears with her tissue. "You too Riku, I'd better hear from you, young man!"

Riku smiled. "Of course."

"You're asking too much from Gallagher, Mom." Vanitas snickered. "He only talked to you because you fed him. He would have died on his own."

"Van." Noctis hissed in a warning tone. "Aren't you the least bit sad that your brothers are leaving?"

Vanitas looked over at Sora. "But of course I am! My adorable baby brother is going out into the big scary world! How will he survive?"

He then looked over at Roxas. "And Roxy! My other little brother! Even though you're much tougher than Sora, it's still worrisome that you'll live away from mom and dad!"

Sora looked absolutely infuriated, Roxas was getting pissed off. Noctis narrowed his eyes at Vanitas and smacked him at the back of the head, Vanitas looked indifferent.

Stella took a step forward and took Riku in her arms. "Take care, Riku. I better hear from you!"

Riku chuckled as Noctis shook the silverette's hand, Stella then walked over to Roxas and the tears rolled down their cheeks. "My little Roxy…I'll miss you so much!"

"Oh Mom…"

Stella got on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek. She moved away from Roxas as Noctis gave Roxas hug and ruffled his spiky hair before they turned to Sora, who sniffled noisily. "Oh my little baby!" Stella broke down completely as she embraced her youngest son. Noctis hugged both wife and son, holding back his own tears. When they parted, all three of them had puffy red eyes.

"Take care, Sora." Noctis smiled.

"I will, Dad." Sora sniffled, while wiping his tears on his sleeve.

Stella looked over at Vanitas expectantly. "Van, aren't going to hug your brothers goodbye?

Vanitas rolled his eyes and walked over to Sora. It was at this point that Roxas truly saw the differences between the brothers other than the three year age gap; Vanitas was slightly taller than Sora, he was also more muscular, and even though he wore contacts, his eyes held a cold gaze that Sora's eyes did not. The two siblings glared at each other for a few seconds before Vanitas gave Sora a chaste hug.

Sora blinked confusedly, as far as memory served, Vanitas had never hugged anyone other than Stella. The raven-haired man turned to face Roxas; he merely nodded in the blond's direction, and barely gave Riku a passing glance. But then again, what else would Roxas have expected from Vanitas?

"The flight 358, departing for Traverse Town is now boarding."

The three musicians looked at one another before looking back at the family. Despite the teary eyes from the parents, both of them were smiling encouragingly towards the three; however none of them seemed to be able to move.

Vanitas rolled his eyes. "If you don't get going, you'll miss your plane, idiots."

Stella looked at Vanitas disapprovingly while Noctis hit him in the back of the head again.

Riku cleared his throat. "Thanks for everything." he then walked away heading towards the terminal gate.

Roxas and Sora looked at each other before looking back at their parents. "We love you."

Stella laughed as fresh tears spilled down her cheeks again, Noctis smiled warmly at the two boys, and Vanitas simply raised an eye brow.

"We love you, too." Their parents echoed.

With that, the cousins walked away, following the direction Riku had taken.

This was it; this was truly it, like Sora said, they were taking their steps towards the doorway to adulthood.

_Wow, that really is corny._ Roxas smiled, he looked over at Sora, and he was grinning excitedly.

* * *

><p>In the three hours it took to get to Traverse Town, Naminé had truly enjoyed the scenic route. She had never stepped outside the borders of Serenity Meadows, but the road to the city had been absolutely breathtaking. Snow, who was wearing a simple blue medium-sleeved shirt and jeans, drove the entire trip as he had been to Traverse Town on several occasions before hand, and knew his way around the city.<p>

"Where is House of Utada located at?" Naminé asked as Snow parked the car. Finding a parking space proved to be quite the difficult task; clearly many people of all walks of life had come to make their dreams a reality. She got out and grabbed her satchel which made noise as the bottom had a few large beads.

"We'll have to walk a bit," Snow sighed. "I parked about five blocks from the place. It's in the Second District."

"That far?" Naminé was thankful she had brought a large white wicker hat with her.

"I'm afraid so." Snow looked at her apologetically. "Let's go buy some water; it'll help fight this heat."

Naminé nodded. After stopping at a nearby 7-11, she suddenly became much more aware of the city. She looked at all of the buildings surrounding her; it was at this point where she realized how much of a countryside girl she was. The large buildings were called apartments; they usually had around 12 or more small homes inside. And then the many different shapes of the buildings fascinated her, she could imagine the architect that came up with the structural design had to have a very creative mind.

She inwardly giggled, no matter where she went, all she saw was art. In the colors of the buildings, the décor on the windows, even the paved road she was walking on! She liked that there were a few sun shaped insignias on the pavement at every traffic light, it was a nice touch. She noticed that the side walk seemed to also have some kind of astrological sign, but there were too many people on the sidewalk, it was some kind of line.

"There it is!"

Naminé looked up at the excited voice from her twin. Her jaw dropped. He was pointing at a large building that had a guitar on its roof that was a bold choice! It certainly screamed out to all music lovers.

"Oh my goodness!" she whispered.

"I know, it's an amazing sight to behold." Snow smiled. "This is where it'll happen, Nami."

She looked over at him; his eyes were alit with such a glow, that mere words would never do it justice. It was the very look she had when her pencil would meet her sketchbook, when a brush met an easel, when a pastel met a piece of paper.

"Then let's go make your dream come true!"

They walked up to the building and even though she should have known it was likely to happen, she was still shocked to the that the line of people that extended the last five blocks they had just walked was the actual waiting line for the auditions. As they walked past the many civilians, Naminé couldn't help but notice the different array of clothing people wore. Some looked quite sensible styles, other were outlandish. Didn't it bother them wearing leather jacket or pants in the awful heat of summer?

They stopped when they reached the main entrance, it was guarded by a large muscular black man wearing quite the stylish pair of lens. Naminé noticed a name tag on the man's grey t-shirt, Barret.

"Um… excuse me, sir?" Snow called to him. Barret was almost twice the size of her brother. But then again, that wasn't saying much, Snow was barely 5'4".

"Whaddaya want, kid?" Barret's voice was gruff. "Can't you see I'm busy?"

"Err, yes I see that, but um," Snow chuckled nervously. "You see, sir, I have an audition today."

Barret scoffed. "If I had a munny for every time some punk-ass kid said that to me today, I'd be filthy rich."

Naminé's eyes widened. Why was Barret so skeptical? Snow wasn't lying to him.

"Yes, I understand you, but I really do have an appointed audition today."

"You got proof?"

"Um…"

Barret grinned triumphantly. "Dat's what I thought. Now go and wait yo turn like every other dang fool here."

Snow turned to Naminé crestfallen. She turned to look back at the line; it seemed to have become longer in just a few minutes. At this rate, they would never make it to the 7 o'clock deadline.

Snow eyes widened as if he had remembered something important, and turned back to face Barret. "Can you please tell Mr. Fair that Snow Martin is here?"

That got Barret's attention. "How do you know Fair?"

"He's the one who booked my time slot as a favor." Snow's smile was one Naminé hadn't seen since they were children; mischievous.

Barret pulled out a walkie-talkie from the back side of his pants. "Yo, Hyper Puppy, this is the Big Man, over."

_Hyper Puppy?_

Naminé tried her hardest to not burst out in laughter, and judging by the look on Snow's face, so was he.

"What the hell?" came a lively voice over the static. "I told you to stop calling me that!"

"Tough shit." Barret cleared his throat. "I got some kid out here saying he has a booked audition."

"Another one?" the other man sighed. "Don't you know how to deal with those by now?"

"Oh I do, but this one says he knows your ass. That you're the one that booked his appointment."

There was silence for a minute.

"What's the kid's name?"

"Snow Martin."

"….oh. Oh!"

At that Snow smiled triumphantly.

"Yeah, he has a 7 o'clock appointment!" Mr. Fair's voice seemed to smile for him. "Go ahead and let him in!"

Barret shrugged. "Copy that, Hyper Puppy." He then placed the walkie-talkie back in its place and looked at Snow. "You're lucky he actually remembered you, that guy would forget his fiancé if she wasn't around."

He then moved out of the way and let the two siblings enter the building. Once inside, Naminé was thankful for the marvelous invention of air conditioning. She took off her hat and placed her water inside her satchel. She followed Snow across the wide reception area, to the front desk.

"Excuse Miss?" He spoke a bit quietly.

The receptionist had curly brown hair and amber colored eyes. She was wearing a suit and looked rather charming. She smiled kindly at both siblings. "May I help you?"

"Mr. Fair booked an open audition for me today." He said as he pulled out his wallet to take out his ID.

The receptionist took it. "Ah yes, Mr. Martin. Your appointment is at 7 today."

Snow smiled excitedly. Naminé couldn't blame him, she was excited for him. She looked at the brunette's name tag, it said Cissnei.

Cissnei picked up the phone and dialed an extension number. "Hey Zack? The seven o'clock is here."

Naminé suddenly became very aware of her surroundings. From the soft carpet beneath her, to various abstract patterns on the wall, to the painted ceiling. Even the lounge furniture was very different. Some of the chairs looked like small thrones, and the couches looked more like disfigured mathematical shapes.

The windows to the outside looked like they belonged in a, for the lack of a better phrase, a rock video, having a rich Gothic frame. They curtains were a strange teal shade, which certainly contrasted the various colors on the walls. The patterns themselves were simply astonishing. From simple things like squiggly lines to circles and triangles, everything meshed so well.

"Nami?"

She turned around to see that Snow was looking at her intently, chances are he knew that she was analyzing every aspect of the building due to her artistic nature.

"Everything all settled?" She smiled.

"Just about." He smiled back. "Miss Cissnei went to go get Mr. Fair."

"Are you nervous?" She noticed he looked awfully composed. If it were her in his place, chances are she would have thrown up by now.

"…a bit, yeah." He smiled sheepishly. "I just hope I don't choke, or worse, lose my voice at the last minute."

"Don't jinx it." She said cautiously. She then knocked on the reception desk.

Snow shook his head laughing. "Thanks, that always works."

"It's the reason why I do it." She giggled. She looked behind Snow to see Cissnei walking next to a rather tall man. His hair was black and was spiked back, in a downwards motion, with a single stand in front of his face. His deep blue eyes were alit with an energy she normally saw in…puppies.

Was this….?

"Mr. Fair!" Snow smiled and walked over to the taller man and shook hands.

"'Mr. Fair?' That was my father, call me Zack." Zack smiled. He turned to look at Naminé and blinked. "Is she that sister you mentioned?"

"Yes, this is my little sister, Naminé." Snow grabbed her wrist and walked her in front of Zack.

Good heavens, the man was tall.

"N-nice to meet you, Mr. Zack." She smiled shyly, shaking his hand.

"'Mr. Zack?' Wow, you guys are so polite! You don't see that often!" He grinned.

Even when he smiled, he looked like an excited puppy. Was it wrong of her to imagine a pair of ears and a waging tail on him?

"Lemme show you where you'll be performing Snow." Zack patted the blond's shoulder as Naminé walked behind them and Cissnei returned to her desk. Naminé looked back at the entrance as several new voices entered the building.

She saw a brown haired young man accompanied by a young woman with…blue hair.

* * *

><p>"Man it feels good to stretch!" Sora sighed as he extended his arms. "That seat was comfortable and all, but after almost three hours of sitting, my ass hurts."<p>

"I think we should go get our bags." Riku said as he finished drinking water by the airport restrooms. "Thank god we shipped our instruments a week ago, of this would be a bigger pain that it is now."

The Traverse Town International airport was twice the size of Destiny Islands airport. That, and the fact that they weren't familiar with the building would take a while for them to find their belongings.

"Where are we supposed to go, anyway?" Roxas asked as he looked at his flight ticket.

"We have to go to the baggage claim area by gate M." Riku said as he looked at his own ticket.

"Hey, guys…"

"What Sora?" Roxas was looking around at the adjacent area. He could see gates N and O, so gate M couldn't be too far.

"Is there a time change from here to Destiny Islands?" Sora continued.

"I'm not too sure." Riku replied. "Why?"

"Look over there."

Roxas looked up to the large column Sora was pointing in the middle of the building. There was a large, noticeable digital clock. It said 4:50pm.

"Holy shit!" Roxas exclaimed. They barely had anytime left, they had to grab their stuff and bolt out of the place. They barely even have time to get to their apartment to drop their stuff off!

The three of them ran through the airport like wild animals, trying to avoid running into people and trying to locate their designated luggage claim area. They practically sprinted down the electrical stairs, which was met with several outcries from the other civilians, they moved past the other two gates in record speed. They finally managed to find their baggage claim gate and waited impatiently for their stuff to finally appear in the conveyor belt and ran for the nearest exit like maniacs. They took the nearest cab and basically demanded to the driver to step on the gas.

"What? You little bitches want me to break every speeding rule?" the older man hissed. He was almost balding, with a pair of goggles on his forehead, he looked to be nearing his sixties, but the man had muscles. He glared at the three and purposely blew a puff of smoke from his cigarette. Sora looked utterly disgusted.

"Look, can you just please go as fast as possible?" Roxas hissed. He certainly was in no mood to argue, least of all with some cranky cab driver.

"If you don't like my rules then leave and get off my back!" the driver growled. Roxas clenched his fist, but the driver started the cab anyway. "Where to?"

"The Third District." Riku replied.

"Alrighty then, you boys better strap yerselves on." There was something weird about the driver's grin as he pulled out of the waiting area.

Roxas rolled his eyes but did as he was told. Once the cab was away from the airport area, the driver made one hell of a U turn and got on the freeway. Sora, who had neglected to put on his belt almost flew to the front seat.

"Didn't I tell you to strap yerself in?" the driver snapped. Sora straightened himself and quickly attempted to put his seatbelt on. But sadly for him, the driver began changing lanes like if he was playing a video game while yelling obscenities at the other drivers. This caused Sora to once again nearly fly to the front seat.

"Sit down and put on yer goddamn SEATBELT!" the driver roared.

Sora fumbled a bit before finally hearing the 'click' of his seatbelt. Roxas knew that had asked to drive fast, but this was border lining on suicide since road rage was tame compared to this insanity.

After a few more batshit insane maneuvers from the driver, they ended off the freeway and into the crowded city streets. From their current location they could easily see the large electric blue guitar of House of Utada, and the waiting line outside was ridiculous. Roxas checked his cell; it had adjusted to the new time. It was 5:10pm. They had to hurry and get there before 6:30.

"Damn the streets are crowded!" Sora said as they neared House of Utada.

"Well what did ya expect? A ghost town?" The driver hissed.

"Riku, you get off here and tell them that we'll be there in a bit." Roxas said. "Sora and I will drop off the stuff and meet you there ASAP."

Riku nodded and opened his door and ran through the streets as fast as he could.

"HEY! YOU CAN'T DO THAT SHIT HERE!" the driver roared. "YOU HAVEN'T PAYED ME YET, YOU LITTLE SHIT!"

"Just keep driving, we'll pay for him!" Sora yelled.

After a few minutes they finally arrived at their apartment building and the two cousins got out of the cab and quickly started grabbing their stuff and running inside the building, the cab driver yelling at the top of his lungs every foul word known to mankind. The good thing was that their apartment was on the second floor, so they only needed to run up a flight of stairs. Roxas hastily unlocked their door as he and Sora unceremoniously dumped their bags and suit cases on the floor with resounding thuds. They ran back down stairs to the cab as the driver almost single handedly destroyed his driver door when he got out.

"Now you listen to me, you little shits!" He snarled. "I better get paid or I'm gonna rip you a new one!"

"We'll pay you, old man!" Roxas snapped. "We need you to drive us to the House of Utada and then I'll pay you!"

Sora, who had taken the last remaining bags back to the apartment, and came running back from the building huffing and wheezing.

"Did you lock the door?" Roxas hissed. The last thing they needed was for someone to steal their belongings.

Sora held out the keys from his pocket and nodded weakly. They both got inside the cab as the cranky driver got back behind the wheel. He revved up the cab pulled out into the streets like a chase scene from a movie and then the most psychotic corner turn ever. Roxas knew he should have feared for his life, but he would NOT miss this audition for Kingdom Hearts Records. Roxas's cell now had 5:40pm. It had seriously taken thirty minutes to get to their place and dump their stuff?

When they pulled up in front House of Utada, Sora leapt out of the cab, with Roxas right behind him.

"HEY!" the driver roared. "WHERE THE FUCKING HELL IS MY GODDAMN MONEY!"

Roxas growled loudly as he ran back to the driver's window and began tossing the driver various bills. He even didn't care if he threw in a $100 munny bill. Roxas turned back to the building and saw that Riku was talking to the security guard, the large man didn't look happy to say the least. Did this entire city have nothing but cranky workers?

Finally, the security guard gave the okay and let Sora and Roxas enter. Once inside the cool building Roxas and Sora caught their breath and laughed hysterically.

"I can't believe we made it!" Sora panted.

Riku smiled. "At least you had me to do the talking."

"Why didn't he let Sora in?" Roxas wheezed.

"Apparently, Barret, the guard, said that he wasn't gonna fall for the 'I have an appointment' line." Riku said. "He told me to go wait in line like everyone else."

"How did you convince him to let you in?" Roxas asked he attempted to fix his windswept spikes.

"I told him about Tifa and how it was her friend Aerith that got us the time slot secured." Riku grinned.

"I bet that shut him up!" Sora punched the air.

"Not really," Riku shook his head. "He pulled out his walkie-talkie and actually confirmed everything I had said. Thank god that Ms. Aerith hadn't left the premises yet and gave the order to let us in."

"Wow." The cousins echoed.

At that moment a young woman walked up to them. She was wearing a pink summer dress with a white-to-blue gradient underskirt, and strap on sandals. She had mesmerizing emerald green eyes, luscious lips and mahogany brown hair that was braided at the back and accented with a pink ribbon to complete the ensemble.

"Hello!" She said in a sweet and innocent angelic voice. "You must be that band Tifa spoke so highly about!"

Sora blushed. "Aw shucks, we're not that good."

"Oh?" The young woman smiled.

"Yes we are." Riku smiled confidently.

The young woman giggled. "Oh I didn't even introduce myself! I'm Aerith Gainsborough, nice to meet you all!"

"I'm Riku Gallagher."

"Roxas McCartney."

"Name's Sora Osment!"

She held out her hand as one by one, each band member shook her bracelet laden hand. "Okay now, just follow me so you can see where you'll be performing."

The guys followed Aerith down a hallway past a reception desk. When they entered the main room, their jaws dropped. This fully equipped stage was larger than the one in Seventh Heaven, that one was puny by comparison. Roxas looked around the room; there were a few other groups huddled around on the left side and only three people on the right side. Roxas figured that those were probably the soloists. He saw a tall guy with black spiky hair talking animatedly to a pair of blonds, a guy and a girl. The girl stuck out the most due to her orange dress, which contrasted with the dim lights of the room.

"This'll be your stage." Aerith pointed to the stage behind her. "As you can see, we're providing instruments just in case you need them." She noticed they guys avoided her gaze when she said that, and she giggled. "Just don't break them!"

At that moment the tall guy that had been talking with the two blonds came up to Aerith and wrapped an arm around her. "Hey guys! Welcome!"

Roxas suddenly took back what he had thought earlier about all the workers in Traverse Town being grumpy. This guy was just as excited looking as Sora!

"This is Zack, guys." Aerith smiled at the tall man beside her. "He's the other manager here besides me." Zack gave her a look and she giggled. "And he's also my fiancé."

"You guys co-own this place?" Sora smiled dreamily.

"Indeed we do!" Zack grinned proudly. "It's like our baby. Except no diapers need to be changed. And thank the gods too, because that would NOT be a pretty sight!"

The guys laughed as Aerith lightly slapped Zack's shoulder. "Anyways, Tifa told me you guys call yourselves 'The Keyblade Wielders', right?"

"Yes ma'am!" Sora replied enthusiastically.

Aerith giggled at him. "Okay, the representative for KH Records is already here, you just-"

"He's here?" Roxas scanned the room again. He still saw the two blond's on the right side of the room and the other group acts on the left. There a few other people wearing polos and slacks, so Roxas assumed that they were employees.

"He's in one of our other sound stages." Zack elaborated. "We decided to split the performances from music related to dance related."

"That way, there isn't a huge crowd when the time comes for the performances!" Aerith finished. "Anyways, if you guys would walk over to that room on the far left corner, you guys can gather your wits about and relax until it's your turn. Oh, and choose what song you'll be performing, you only get on chance! "

The guys did as they were suggested and sauntered their way over. The room seemed to scream 'rock star' at them, there was an edgy feel to the room by just looking on the furniture. Sora immediately plopped down on the first couch he saw. Riku laughed and sat on a single seat recliner just a few steps away from Sora. Roxas walked over to Sora and slapped away his cousins legs so that he could sit in the same couch.

"So, what song are we gonna perform?" Riku said as he laid against the couch looking at the ceiling.

"We need to impress them, that's for sure!" Sora chimed in.

"We'll do 'Disguise'." Roxas told them. The other two didn't look at him, but he knew they agreed with the choice. "We need to start with a strong song and finish with a bang! And this song has everything."

"Just to be sure, Riku is doing second vocals, right?" Sora looked a bit worried. Roxas knew that Sora had confidence issues when it came to singing.

"Yes, Sora, you can stick to doing back up." Riku smiled reassuringly.

Sora exhaled loudly before returning his attention to the abstract patterns on the ceiling. Roxas could feel the nervousness in the air, he looked at his cell and saw the time, 6:15pm.

"Fifteen minutes guys."

The other two exhaled and Roxas suddenly began to pray to any deity that might be up in the heavens for a blessing.

* * *

><p>Naminé turned her head when she heard noises coming from the stage. She saw three guys with the most impractical hairstyles she had ever seen; one had wild spiky brown hair that went in every direction, the also had spiky hair but at least it looked like he attempted to style it, and the other guy, the one with silver hair, well he actually looked the most stylish of all three. His hair was long, his bangs covered the majority of his face, but it made him look very...dare she say it? Appealing.<p>

The blond picked up the electric guitar and strummed a few notes before adjusting the strings to his liking. The silverette picked up the bass guitar and also strummed a few notes before he, too, changed them. The lively brunette sat behind the drum set and began spinning the drumsticks on between his fingers. Naminé looked back at the guitarist; she assumed he'd be the lead singer since he took the center mic. His eyes were colored a wonderful shade of blue, very reminiscent of the sky. His features were very handsome and although she couldn't figure out why staring at the blond caused her to blush. She was grateful that the room's lights were fading more to focus on the group up on the stage.

Miss Aerith, Mr. Zack's fiancé, walked up to the center mic, and cleared her throat addressing the small audience. "Are you guys ready?"

There several replies scattered throughout the room, Naminé giggled when the staff started pumping their fists in the air.

"Okay then! Let's give a warm welcome to...The Keyblade Wielders!"

All of the people in the room clapped as the guys shook of their nerves. The blond guy nodded to the brunette and the drummer clicked his drumsticks while shouting "One, two, three, four!"

Immediately the band began playing and even though Naminé wasn't familiar with this genre of music, she found herself bobbing her head to the music. Then the blond sang...

**I don't mind your teasing, I would often encourage it. Your perfume, your lips and your body drive me insane. The sensations you cause in me are all I need to live.**

**You say you want to just pass the time, but baby that just won't do.**

**Something about you makes me crave you more and more, I feel so pathetic, how can a simple kiss drive me up a waaaaaaaaall?**

**Let me say that you won't be doing that, no I won't let you do that.**

**I'm not just gonna let you leave like that. You drive me insane with your little games, that I can barely take it anymore.**

**Even if you leave while I'm asleep, somehow, I'll find you.**

**Even if you leave to another country, I'll find you.**

**Even if you wear men's clothes as a disguise, I'll find you.**

Naminé's jaw dropped, his voice was the most...sexy thing she had ever heard. But she was a bit concerned for the lyrics. The song was, despite the catchy tune, well, obsessive. She wondered if the lyrics were based on a real life experience, or if they were just lyrics to a deliciously catchy song. She looked around the room and saw that the other audience members were also moving in rhythm to the song.

**I tried pretending that your soft little touches had no effect on me, I even ignored that voice inside my head telling me that I was falling for you.**

**You say that's it not like destiny has a red string tied around our pinkies, that you're free to do what ever you like.**

**This all had started as a game for you, but honey things just got serious.**

**I worry that I'll seem like some stalker, but darling just look at me.**

**I really did fall for you, for your words, for your loooooooove...**

**Let me say that you won't be leaving, no I can't let you leave.**

**I can't just let you slip through my fingers. You drove me insane with your little games, that I feel like some addict.**

**Even if you leave while I'm asleep, somehow, I'll find you.**

**Even if you leave to another country, I'll find you.**

**Even if you wear men's clothing as a disguise, I'll find you.**

The guitar and bass lowered their pitch while the drummer cranked up the beat. Naminé was sure that everyone in the room at this point was going to have a hard time forgetting this song anytime soon. She looked around and noticed that a tall man wearing an expensive looking suit was smiling broadly at the group on the stage. Next to him was a slender and voluptuous woman wearing casual clothes, and did she have blue hair?

**The sensation of the two of us under the sheets has been engraved into my whole being.**

**Just remembering that makes my lips tremble, and my body aches for you.**

**I could list everything that I love about you alphabetically.**

**All I'm saying to you is that the game is over, this is reaaaaaaaaaaaal.**

**Let me say that you're not going anywhere, unless I'm there with you.**

**I wouldn't be able to let you go. If your game of love is a drug, then consider me a junkie for it.**

**Wherever you hide, I'll find you.**

**Whichever country you live in, I'll find you.**

**Whatever disguise you wear, I'll find you.**

**You can't hide from me, I hate to be a stalker but this is what happens when you play such dangerous games!**

**You can wear any disguise, I'll know it's you.**

The song reached it's end with several last beats of the drum. When the last hymns of the guitars died down, the entire room exploded with applause. The three guys straightened up and bowed to the small audience, as Miss Aerith walked back up to the stage.

"Wow, was that incredible!" She beamed. "One more round of applause for The Keyblade Wielders!"

The room once again went off like a thunder storm. The guys shook hands with Miss Aerith and waved back at the audience before leaving the stage and going into the lounge room. For some inexplicable reason, Naminé had the strongest urge to personally tell the guys that she loved every second of the song. Well maybe not the content of the lyrics, but she wouldn't mention that part. But the more she thought about that, the more she decided against it. After all, it would be a bit strange to have some random girl say that she loved your song.

Another group was now going up on stage to perform. After them, it would be Snow's turn.

* * *

><p>The three of them flopped down on the large lounge couch, laughing their heads off.<p>

"Holy shit!" Sora exclaimed. "That. Was. AWESOME!"

"Wow, I didn't realize how much of an adrenaline rush that could be." Riku exhaled. "Performing in Tifa's bar is nothing compared to this!"

Roxas laughed. "That was the best performance we've done!"

The door opened as the sounds of another band performing reached their ears. Aerith walked in with a tall, brown haired man walking behind her. He was wearing a very expensive-looking suit, his hair was mostly combed back, with some hair framing the sides of his face. He had a serious expression on his face, but not intimidating, he was a bit more taller than Riku. The three guys stood up from their seats and looked at Aerith.

"Guys, this Terra Dohring, he's the representative I told you about." She smiled at them.

"A pleasure to meet you." Terra grinned. Each guy introduced himself to Terra before the taller man clapped his hands. "Okay guys, I don't like run-arounds, so let's get to the point."

Roxas heard Sora gulping loudly, his own hands were getting clammy from the nerves. _Please say we made it, please say we made it!_

_"_You guys were phenomenal!" Terra exclaimed. "Truly fantastic! Your stage presence was so engaging, you got out there and cast a spell on the audience. I'm 100% sure that not one person out there wasn't moving along to the beat."

The guys looked at each other excitedly, this was better than they had hoped!

...but did that mean they would be signed? Roxas felt his heart beating so fast, he felt like everyone in the room could hear the noise.

"Guys, it's my privilege to welcome you to Kingdom Hearts Records."

* * *

><p><strong>Ta-dah! I finally got this done! Sorry it's so long, I just felt that if I made it two chapters it would be confusing. Anyways, I hope you liked it!<strong>


	4. Contract Problems

**Here's the next update! I really need to learn to do smaller chapters...oh well. I hope you'll still like!**

**I do not own Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy or Disney.**

* * *

><p><strong>Contract Problems<strong>

**Sunday, May 17**

About a week after the very successful audition had passed and still no word from Kingdom Hearts Records. Terra Dohring, the representative from their audition, told them that when they signed the contract he'd be their manager. But so far, not one single call from the guy. That night, the four men exchanged numbers so that Terra could easily get in contact with either three of them, since they didn't have a home phone. Not that they had expected Terra to call them within a day or two, but a whole week?

Roxas paced around in their small kitchen. Their apartment only had one bedroom, and the three of them slept in sleeping bags on the floor, the bathroom being literally three steps away. Their bathroom was absolutely puny; there was barely any space for the faucet, toilet and shower. Just outside their bedroom was the kitchen, a small stove and a dish sink. There were about four cupboards directly above the sink, which mostly had plastic plates and utensils.

They were living off their savings for the time being; admittedly they had saved up quite an impressive amount of Munny over the course of four years. But despite this, if Terra didn't call them by the end of the current week, Roxas and Sora were considering getting part-time jobs until they figured out their next step. Roxas really wanted to take Sora's words to the heart, to be more optimistic, but Roxas couldn't help but feel disappointed. He knew that it would be better for him to be patient, but curse his pessimistic nature! Riku seemed to be swinging between being a pessimist and being just as hopeful as Sora.

Since they lacked a home phone, all of their cells were in the middle of their dining room/living room on top of Riku's bass case. They did this every day for the last week, hoping that they would finally hear from Terra. Riku was leaning against the wall closest to the entry door; Sora was lying on the floor next to his drum set cases. Their apartment was so small that their instrument cases took up the majority of space in their living room/dining room. The three of them exhaled heavily every now and then, the room was thick with anticipation, stress and impatience.

The sound of a phone vibrating snapped them into attention and at once all three ran to the phones. Riku got there first and quickly picked up his own phone. Sora and Roxas moved closer to him as Riku pressed the speaker button.

"Hello?" He said breathlessly.

"Hey Riku!" Came Terra's voice. "How are you guys?"

"We're doing fine." Riku answered. "How's everything going?"

"…are the guys nearby?"

Roxas couldn't help but notice the sudden change in Terra's tone. He hoped it was just his imagination.

"Alright guys, here's the deal." There was no mistaking the seriousness in Terra's voice now. "You guys are one of the most talented bands I've ever seen, but…"

Roxas felt the air become thicker, from his peripheral vision he could see Sora looking fearful. Riku eyes darkened a bit, usually a sign of bracing himself for bad news. This was it, they were being rejected. Roxas suddenly understood why Terra had taken so long to call them.

"I spoke with the company's president and…unless you guys can find a fourth member, we can't sign you."

Sora's jaw dropped, Riku closed his eyes, and Roxas shook his head. This wasn't happening; the company was honestly willing to throw away a potential source of money just because they were one man short?

"Why do we need another member for?" Sora asked.

"The company just signed a three member group." Terra explained. "The company president has a…thing for numbers."

_What? "A thing for numbers"?_Roxas's mind hissed. _Is that supposed to be a joke? Because I'm not laughing!_

Riku opened his eyes and raised an eyebrow. "And now he wants a four man band?"

"Basically..." Terra sighed. "There's still a chance to sign you, just get another guy."

"'Another guy'?" Roxas hissed. "You say that like we can pull someone out of our asses, Terra."

"Look, I know that it's difficult to find someone that you can trust, someone that has the same passion for music as much as you guys do, BUT, this is the only way. I can also schedule some solo auditions and see if anyone would like to be in a band and sign them with you guys."

How could they argue against the contract terms? Even if they were running on troll logic. Sora and Riku looked at each other, Roxas knew that they were trying to think of someone they knew to join their band, and if not some random stranger would join. But Roxas wasn't going to have that; if they got a new member, it had to be someone they trusted. Someone they'd known for years.

"I really wish I could do more for you guys." Terra sighed. "But this is what the company is looking for."

Sora sat on the floor with his head bowed. If Sora was acting like this, then they really had little to no chance of getting that contract.

"If you guys find your fourth member, give me a call." Terra said before the line went dead. Riku put his phone in his jeans pocket, and sighed heavily.

"What now?" Sora asked.

Riku looked at his best friend and pulled out his phone again. "We better start calling people."

Roxas looked up at him. "You honestly think that it'll be that easy? Just call up someone and expect them to drop what they're doing and jump on the next flight here?"

"We have no other choice." Riku snapped as he looked through his phone book. "If we don't find someone else, then everything we've worked for goes down the toilet."

Sora stood up from his spot and walked over to their bedroom. Roxas could hear that his cousin was going through some of the boxes that were in the room; no doubt he was searching for something. Roxas turned back towards Riku. "This isn't going to work. We can't just go around asking friends to join us like it's nothing."

Riku glared at the blond. "Look, if we can't find someone, then we'll take Terra's offer of him finding someone for us."

"Like hell we are." Roxas hissed. "I'm not letting some stranger join us."

Riku put his phone in his pocket and faced Roxas directly. "Just because you're the lead singer doesn't mean that you're the leader. This is the only option presented before us; I say we take it before Terra changes his mind."

"I say we don't." Roxas snapped. "We won't know who the hell the person is, where they come from, what their intentions are!"

"Do want this to happen or not!" Riku snapped back. "I'm not gonna let my dream die just because you and your balls won't allow it!"

"You think this isn't my dream, too?" Roxas snarled. "Don't you think I want this to happen as much as you!"

"Guys…" Sora had come back into the room and was now holding a thick book in his hands.

But neither the blond nor the silverette backed down.

"There is no way that some random person is joining our band, and that's final!" Roxas yelled.

"You don't make all of the decision for us, Roxas!" Riku growled. "If we don't find someone by tomorrow, I'm calling Terra and telling him that he can get someone."

Riku began to walk past the two cousins before Roxas grabbed his arm. "You are not the one that will decide that."

"You're not the leader Roxas!" Riku yelled. "Stop thinking you are!"

"If it wasn't for me there wouldn't be a band in the first place!" Roxas snapped.

"Guys!" Sora raised his voice. "What about my opinion? Don't you think I have some say in this?"

The other two stared at the normally jovial brunette. Roxas felt ashamed that he hadn't considered Sora at all. "I'm sorry, Sora, I should have asked you what you thought."

"What do you think, Sora?" Riku asked his best friend. "If we can't find someone, should we take Terra up on his offer of getting someone for us?"

Sora's eyes shifted nervously. Roxas was sure that Sora would side with him; Sora knew better than Riku why he was so hesitant to let a stranger into the group. His cousin knew his reasoning; Sora wouldn't betray Roxas like that.

"Roxas…" Something in Sora's voice made Roxas feel uneasy. "I know why you don't like strangers; none of us do, really." He hesitated a bit. "But I agree with Riku. We've come this far and we can't just let everything we've worked for go to waste. If we have to take Terra's offer, then we should."

Roxas couldn't believe what Sora was saying. Sora knew why Roxas didn't want a stranger in the group, and even if he did have a point, it was still hard to accept that Sora would be against him. Roxas looked at the two and left the apartment. As he stepped outside the building, he felt a cool breeze hit him. It had been sunny about an hour ago, but now, the weather seemed to be in unison with his emotions. Not one ray of sun light was visible through the clouds, and that suited Roxas; he felt that the sun represented hope, a hope he didn't have.

* * *

><p>With one last stroke, the brush finished its current artwork. The artist moved back from the canvas and looked at their work. She frowned. "Ms. Naminé, my painting looks weird."<p>

The young art teacher smiled and placed a consoling hand on the small girl's shoulder. "No it doesn't, I think it looks lovely."

The little girl looked uncertain. "But it doesn't even look like you! It looks more like a blob with yellow stripes."

Naminé smiled. "With some practice and especially patience, it'll look just like you want it to."

"Really?" The girl still looked unconvinced. "Will it take many years for that?"

"Yes, but you must be very patient." Naminé said wisely. "Patience, but mostly love for your art. If you love what you do, you'll get better at it as time passes."

The small child finally smiled and tuned back to her easel. Naminé looked around at her nine students and smiled. She had decided to take her class outside, the clouds were gathering, and while there was some sun light, it wasn't enough to cause any glare from the white canvas. Naminé had decided to teach the kids about watercolors, and each child had their own small Crayola case, two cups with water and a small cloth to wipe their brushes on. But most of the kids used their aprons for that, and it looked adorable, their aprons were own unique paintings. Even if they were just a bunch of random lines.

Naminé turned back to her own easel only to find it blank. She picked up a brush and tapped her own chin with it thoughtfully. She had no idea what to paint. She had been painting and drawing the same thing for the last week that she was determined to do something different this time. But what would she paint?

Naminé shook her head and tried to focus. Almost immediately her mind went somewhere else and as hard as she tried to concentrate, her thoughts would drift. She closed her eyes, her thoughts scattered like leaves on the wind. She opened her eyes and sighed.

* * *

><p><em><strong>-One week ago-<strong>_

The last group performance finished as the room erupted in applause. The group on the stage bowed and put the instruments on the stage before getting off, at this moment, the solo performances would begin. Naminé turned to face her older twin, who up until this moment he had managed to remain calm. Having a closer look at him and she could him looking a tad bit sick. He looked paler than usual, his cerulean orbs, much like her own, shifted around nervously.

"You'll do great, Snow!" she smiled encouragingly, placing a comforting hand on his arm. "You've been preparing and practicing for this moment."

He exhaled heavily and closed his eyes. "I know." He opened his eyes and stared at her warmly. "This is it; either I become a professional singer, or I won't."

"Don't think negatively." She reprimanded him. "I have faith in you and it's time you had faith in yourself."

Snow smiled and hugged her. "Thank you, Nami. You'll always be my pillar of support, the only one I can come to, my little sister."

They parted as Mr. Zack approached them with a wide friendly grin. "Ready, Snow?"

Snow took a deep breath. "Ready!"

"Atta boy!" Mr. Zack clapped Snow in the back as the two walked away towards the stage. Naminé watched as her brother picked up an acoustic guitar and tuned the chords to his liking. Mr. Zack took the main mic and very much how Ms. Aerith had introduced the Keyblade Wielders, Mr. Zack introduced Snow. "Ladies and gentlemen, it is my honor to present Snow Martin!"

The room echoed in applause, Naminé herself clapping enthusiastically as Snow stepped in front of the main mic and smiled shyly. "This song is called 'Sunshine' and I hope you like it."

Naminé smiled as Snow began strumming on the guitar.

**What would I give? All I can do is watch you leave.**

**You didn't even let me say goodbye, you simply said you were leaving and waved me away.**

**And now you're taking all of me with you…**

**Tears spill from my eyes, even though I try to hide them, it's hopeless.**

**That hearts of yours, it was always bright like the sun's rays. I thought we were made for each other, but now I see that you didn't feel the same way.**

Naminé looked curiously at her brother. The song was rather heart breaking. She searched through her memories trying to recall if Snow had ever had a love interest. But for the life of her, she couldn't recall anyone. She looked at her brother; his eyes were closed as he sang his heart out. Naminé wondered if he had never sung this song before, and if it was for someone.

**I won't forget the memories of our love, all the days we spent together.**

**Should you find someone else, I hope he'll make you smile. I hope he'll make you laugh.**

**Even though my heart aches, I'm glad I met you, that I had the chance to love you.**

**Now I know that there is nothing more I can say, but please know that you're always on my mind, my darling, beautiful sunshine.**

Naminé felt a strong urge to cry, but she couldn't understand why. The only logical thing that came to her was that somehow the song was transmitting Snow's heart ache. And his pain was hers, after all. She wiped away a stray tear as her brother continued to pour out his soul on the stage.

**Only the scars remain in the emptiness you left within my heart. Wherever you go, I hope you'll find your true love.**

**As I watch you slowly disappearing into the sunset, my heart is yelling at me to say 'I love you'.**

**I won't forget the memories of our love, all the time we were together.**

**Smile more each and every day for him, to the one that you love now.**

**This farewell is killing me, but I will be strong for the both of us.**

**My heart can't bear to lose its beloved and precious sunshine.**

He began playing with more vigor; the song was reaching its peak. Naminé looked at the audience and saw that a few of the girls, employees or performers, were wiping away tears. Ms. Aerith was at the far end of the room with Mr. Zack as he held her in his arms and kissed her forehead.

**If only I could find the strength to utter that phrase. It's stuck in my throat like a thorn, and playing inside my head like a recording over and over.**

**Why did it have to be you I fell for? Why did I have to love you with such intensity?**

**Even if I tried to forget you, deny that I ever loved you, I couldn't be able to let you go.**

**You'll always be my sunshine.**

The song finished the last notes before the room boomed with applause. Snow placed the guitar down on the stage and bowed at the audience before walking off the stage. He walked towards her as she met him half way and gave him a tight hug. "That was marvelous!"

"Thanks." Snow chuckled. "I hope it was good enough."

"That was amazing, Snow!"

The siblings turned to see Mr. Zack walking towards them; his bright smile seemed to illuminate the room. "I gotta say, that song almost made me cry." His deep blue eyes were teary. Naminé giggled, Mr. Zack truly was like a puppy; his energy, his behavior, but especially his expressive eyes. The older man and Snow began away as the two headed in the direction of the main lounge room, where the other performers where in.

She took out her water bottle from her satchel and took a sip. Out of the corner of her eye she watched as more people came inside the room. She assumed that they were most likely the people waiting outside on the sidewalk. She looked curiously at them; they were all dressed in various styles, from the more simple street clothes to more dark and edgy styles. She also noticed a group walking in with wild and unusual hairstyles and vibrant colors.

_I wonder if their music genres are represented through their apparel. I do hope to be able to see some of the dancing crews!_

She watched the many new performers enter the main area as they chatted excitedly amongst themselves. Naminé capped her water bottle and absentmindedly tried to put her bottle in her satchel, but dropped it on the floor. The bottle rolled on the floor further away from her; it only got worse as the performers kicked the bottle around the room. Naminé bit her lip as she tried to look inconspicuous while she chased after her water bottle. It finally came to a halt when it hit a wall. As she made her way through the crowded room, trying to avoid bumping into people. When she got to the far end of the room, she bent over but someone else picked up the bottle first. Naminé looked up to see who it was.

It was the lead singer from the band the Keyblade Wielders. He stood up straight, looking down at her with a gentle expression. He held his hand out to her; when their hands touched, Naminé felt a tingling and warm sensation spread throughout her body. Naminé slowly stood up, feeling her knees weaken under his soft gaze.

"Is this yours?" he asked.

_Oh my heavens, his voice is so melodic!_

She merely nodded, not daring herself to speak. She reached out her hand as he held out her water bottle. She grabbed the bottle and then looked at him.

He smiled at her and it was absolutely breathtaking. His eyes were the most beautiful shade of blue, like the sky. His hair was as golden as the sun's rays, but it was his smile that was making her heart beat erratically. The light above him gave him an angelic glow, and Naminé couldn't help but feel like a magical aura was enveloping them. He opened his mouth to say something but at that moment, an energetic brunette came up to the blond and slugged the latter's shoulder. At this, the blond let go of Naminé's hand, breaking the magical spell around them.

"Come on, we have to go celebrate!" the drummer said excitedly. He then dragged the blond with him and the two disappeared amongst the crowd.

Naminé sighed, trying to steady the spasmodic beating of her heart. _This is silly!_ Naminé scolded herself. _How can my heart be like this?_

She shook her head attempting to compose herself. She then turned around to head to the direction of the main lounge room to look for her brother. She placed her bottle inside her satchel when she crashed into someone. She almost fell down, but a pair of strong hands grabbed her to steady her.

"Are you okay?" came a soft, deep voice.

Naminé looked up and her eyes widened. It was the silver haired bassist from the same band as the other two. He was much taller than the blond and the brunette; their heads would probably barely reach the silverette's shoulders. She blushed when she suddenly realized that one of his hands was on her waist and the other hand was on her right wrist. He noticed her blush and the placement of his hands and let go of her, a small smile gracing his face.

He was very handsome, his long silver locks hid most of his face, but she could still see his emerald orbs. He was of a much chiseled build, his biceps easily noticeable though his flannel shirt. His torso was also noticeable; it was easy to tell that he worked out.

"I'm f-fine." She replied shyly. He smiled at her and she felt her cheeks grow warmer.

"Riku!" The two turned to see a hand wave from a distance, Naminé was sure that the voice belonged to the brunette.

The tall silver haired young man looked back at her. "I'm sorry for almost knocking you over."

"No, it's my fault." She said quickly. "I should have paid more attention."

He smiled at her again and excused himself and waved goodbye to her before he too, disappeared into the crowd. Naminé stared at his retreating back, lost in a directionless train of thought.

She felt a strange sensation wash over her, and her mind became flooded with images of the blond singer's face. His sun kissed hair, his piercing sky blue eyes, and especially his dazzling smile.

* * *

><p>Naminé lightly passed her brush absentmindedly on her canvas, like she was in a daze.<p>

"Miss Naminé?" came a child's voice. Naminé blinked and looked down at a small curly-haired boy. "It's lunch time, can we go?"

"Oh!" Naminé dug into her apron and pulled out a small pocket watch; it was 12:07pm.

"Yes, you certainly may!" She smiled. The kids immediately dropped their brushes on their easels stands and ran back inside the orphanage.

She couldn't believe how she had managed to space out for so long, especially while in class time. She put down her own brush, running her hands through her flaxen hair and sighed. She looked up to the sky; it was a bit darker than when she had first stepped out with the kids. She gathered her water color brushes and almost dropped them when she looked at her canvas.

She gasped; in her recollection of the previous week's events, she had somehow managed to paint the blond singer's face. She stared at his gorgeous face for a bit before she looked away.

She had drawn his face again. She had been doing this for the last few days now; she was starting to worry about herself. She didn't think it was healthy for her to be drawing a young man's face when she didn't even know his name. She walked away from her painting, towards the gardens just down three stone steps. She saw a large, old sycamore tree with a swing hanging from one of its branches. She remembered when she and Snow would spend hours playing on that old swing.

She would swing on it while Snow would climb up the tree as high as he could; never weary of the possibility of falling down. Naminé smiled as she sat on the piece of wood and grabbed the ropes on the sides, gently propelling herself forward with her foot.

_Why can't I get his face off my mind? Why do I keep seeing him so often? And why does my heart beat so fast when I think of him?_

The gentle breeze caressed her medium length tresses, as her cerulean orbs searched the grey heavens. She didn't know why she felt this way, why his face had such an effect on her. It's not like she hadn't ever seen other young men; their village had its plenty share of good-looking young lads.

"Nami!"

She turned around to find Snow walking towards her, his face was unreadable. When he neared, she could see disappointment written in his demeanor; something was wrong, he hardly ever let something bother him.

"I got a call from Miss Holland." He said quietly as he rested against the massive tree's trunk.

Miss Holland was a choreographer who worked for Kingdom Hearts Records; she long with another colleague of hers had come to see the auditions at House of Utada. The blue-haired beauty had personally spoken with Snow after his performance and told him of his chances of being signed with the company as a new solo artist. Snow had nearly passed out from the sheer shock at the news; Naminé's own heart had felt like it would burst from her chest.

"What did she say?" Naminé asked gently, noticing her brother's facial expressions.

"She said that the company would put me on reserve." His voice was so monotone that it scared her.

"What does that mean?"

"It means that the company won't be signing me anytime soon." His eyes seemed to glisten at that.

Naminé stood up. "Bu-but Miss Holland said that you were-!"

"She said that there was a 'good' chance, Nami." He faced her, his expression was quite stony. "She never said that my spot was guaranteed." He folded his arms and she walked over to him. "She told me that I could also join a band."

"What? Just like that? Where would we get people from?" It was one thing to not sign him as a soloist, but a band?

"Well, she told me of a group of guys who need one more person in order to get signed." Snow exhaled. "She told me that it would be the best bet at the moment."

"They can do that?" Naminé didn't know much about music industries, but something seemed odd to her. "Just call someone up and sign them as a group act?"

"I guess." Snow shrugged.

"What are you gonna do?" Naminé asked.

Snow exhaled deeply, running his thin fingers through his messy, wavy hair. "I don't know. I might take up Miss Holland on her offer, I might not."

He gave her a weak smile before heading back to the orphanage building. Her brother's dreams had been momentarily halted, but if he joined the other group, he could still be a singer. Either way led him to the same goal. She ran up to him and stood in front of him, a determined look on her face.

"I think you should go for it." She smiled.

"Join the other group?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, you should do it. You'd still be a singer, right?"

Snow shook his head. "Well yeah, but…"

She brought her hand in front of his face. "No buts! This is your dream; this is what you've been waiting for your entire life!"

He chuckled. "Why is that you always say stuff like this?"

"Because it's true!" She said happily. "You can't be stubborn and turn this opportunity away! You have an open door before you, so don't close it."

Snow stared at her for a moment before he smiled. "I should go call Miss Holland."

Naminé beamed. "Yes, you should."

The twins hugged before Snow went running back inside the orphanage, Naminé watched with an immense satisfaction as her brother entered the building.

* * *

><p>Roxas walked back inside the apartment to find Sora and Riku sitting on the floor. There were high school yearbooks littered across the floor, a notebook with names and numbers crossed out. Roxas knew that they were trying to get a hold of someone who would join them.<p>

"Any luck?" Roxas asked apprehensively.

Sora let out a loud puff of air. "No."

"We've called just about everyone and nothing." Riku sighed. "Most either can't because they don't know how to play an instrument, or they have a family."

Roxas shook his head and set his grocery bags on the kitchen counter; he had gone to a nearby grocery store after his stress lowered. He took out a bag of chips and tossed it to Sora who caught it easily.

"I even called Vanitas." Sora mumbled as he opened the bag of chips.

_We're that low on people? Vanitas is always the last resort!_

"How did that go?" Roxas asked as he sat down next to his cousin, opening an Arizona iced tea.

Sora rolled his eyes. "And I quote, 'You can go fuck yourself, little bro.'"

Roxas was impressed at how accurate Sora's imitation of Vanitas's voice was, it was quite scary actually. The two brothers did sound similar, but Vanitas's voice was a lower pitch than Sora's. "Why am I not surprised he said that?"

"He's a fucking prick." Sora hissed. "Good-for-nothing-asswipe-brother. I can't believe we share the same DNA!"

Riku laughed. "I've always wondered about that, too."

"So, we don't have anyone?" Roxas asked, trying to get back on topic.

Sora shook his head as he grabbed a fist full of Hot Cheetos and stuffed his face, Riku sighed and that was all Roxas needed for an answer. There was no other option; they had to take Terra up on his offer.

"Should we call Terra now?" Roxas sighed. It was still early, and the sooner they settled this ordeal, the better.

"I thought you were against that." Riku said darkly.

Roxas looked at him. "I can't do that to you guys. I can't just make a decision without it affecting all of us. We started this group when we were still in high school, we've come this far, and it'd be stupid to walk away."

Riku stared at Roxas momentarily before pulling out his phone and tossing it to the blond. "He's on speed dial #8."

Roxas looked back at the silverette before pressing the button. After a few rings, Terra picked up.

"Hello?"

"Terra, it's me, Roxas." He got up from the floor.

"Hey Rox, how's it going? Did you find someone?"

Roxas sighed. "…no, we couldn't get anyone."

Terra groaned.

"Is your offer still available?" Roxas asked hopefully.

"Yes, I can find someone for you guys." Roxas could almost see a smile on Terra's face. "In fact, my co-worker just finished talking to a guy who is willing to join you guys!"

_Wow, that was quick!_"Really?"

"Yup, his name is Snow Martin; he lives about three hours from Traverse Town." Terra explained. "He's quite well known in Serenity Meadows for his voice. He's a shy fellow, doesn't say much."

Roxas felt uneasy almost immediately, but decided to not dwell on that. "When can we meet up to sign the contract?"

"In a few hours, if you want." Terra said. "I just need to go over the contract and send someone to pick up Snow."

"Where should we meet?" At this both Sora and Riku got up from the floor and walked over to Roxas.

"Hmm, do you know of the grand hotel in the First District?" There were noises of paper shuffling in the back ground. "I can't remember its name…"

"You mean the Square Enix Hotel?" Roxas snapped his fingers at Sora as the brunette ran to get his laptop from their bedroom.

"That's the one!" Terra laughed. "Meet me there in about five hours. I'll call the hotel to save an event room for us."

Roxas could feel his heart beat quickening. "We'll see you there!"

"Awesome, I'll call Snow and tell him the good news! See you guys later!"

Terra hung up as Sora plugged in his laptop and turned it on. "I can't believe it's actually happening!"

Riku had a broad smile on his face; he took his phone back from Roxas and sat down on the floor next to Sora. "What's the new guy's name?"

"Snow Martin." Roxas sat down as well, grabbing the Hot Cheetos bag and eating a few chips.

"I wonder what he's like." Sora mused as he began searching for directions to the Square Enix Hotel.

Roxas swallowed. "Terra said that Snow is shy and doesn't talk much."

"Oh good." Riku sighed. "We don't need another loud one."

"And what is that supposed to mean?" Sora snapped at his best friend.

"One Sora is enough for us." Roxas laughed. "Two of you would be scary."

"Not counting Vanitas." Riku said. Roxas knew that Riku was trying to lay bait out for Sora.

"We're nothing alike!" Sora hissed. And there it was, Sora took the bait.

The other two laughed, Sora glared at the two of them before turning back to his laptop.

* * *

><p>Naminé helped her last student pick up the remaining easels and walked back inside the main building. After her conversation with Snow a few hours ago, she felt an overwhelming feeling of change. She knew something great was just around the corner, waiting to be discovered. She and her 7 year old student walked to the art room and placed the easels against the wall along with the rest. The child smiled at her before sprinting away, leaving her alone. The art room more or less looked like her own room; except instead of drawings done specifically for her, there were art projects all over the walls.<p>

She smiled at her surroundings before leaving the room and locking the door behind her. She walked down the hallway passing by the music room. A class of older students was currently in session; Snow was the music teacher to preteens, as he found it more difficult to teach younger kids. Naminé looked inside the classroom expecting to see her brother, but she saw Mr. Lumière at the podium. Not wanting to disrupt the class, she walked away and decided to see if Snow would be in his room.

As she headed to the Main Hall she noticed through a window a luxurious car parked outside. She had wondered who it belonged to; perhaps a child was being interviewed by a possible foster family. She was about to walk towards the grand stairs towards the dormitories, when something caught her attention. She saw Mrs. Potts walking towards her with an eager smile on her face.

"Nami, come here!"The older woman waved at the young blonde.

Naminé walked towards her mother figure curiously. "What is it?"

"A young lady just arrived and is looking for your brother!" Mrs. Potts squealed.

"What does she look like?" Naminé looked around but saw no one else.

"She has…" Mrs. Potts giggled. "Her hair is blue and she's very fit looking."

_Blue hair…? Oh, Miss Holland!_ "Where is she?"

"She's in the meeting room." She pointed to a room behind her. "Go talk to her while I get your brother!"

Naminé walked past Mrs. Potts when she remembered that Snow wasn't in the music room. "Oh, Mr. Lumière was in the music room."

"Well, where is your brother?" She blinked confusedly.

"I was about to check his room, but otherwise, I don't know." Naminé smiled apologetically before walking towards to the meeting room. She opened the door to find Miss Holland sitting down on a large cream colored sofa. She turned around when she heard Naminé closing the door behind her. When Naminé had seen her a week ago, Miss Holland was wearing baggy clothing, but this time, she was wearing rather form fitting clothing; a dark blue halter top with a pair of black skinny jeans. The blue haired young woman stood up as Naminé approached, the blonde held out her hand to shake, but Miss Holland hugged her instead.

"Hello again, Naminé!" Miss Holland smiled. She was at least 5inches taller than Naminé was, especially since the bluenette had excellent posture.

"What brings you out here, Miss Holland?" Naminé asked as the two sat on the cream-colored sofa.

Ms. Holland giggled. "You're always so formal, Naminé. Please, call me Aqua."

"Oh okay, Ms. Aqua." Naminé smiled.

Aqua laughed. "That's a little better. Anyways, I came here to give your brother some good news!"

"Really?" Naminé gasped. "What is it?"

Aqua smiled. "Okay, I'm not sure if Snow told you about this other group that needed another member."

Naminé nodded. "Yes, he did. He told me about it a few hours ago."

"Oh good! Well turns out that they couldn't find another member on their own, so their new manager offered to find someone for them. That's where your brother comes in." Aqua said.

"So you mean that the other group accepted the offer?" Naminé gasped.

"Yes indeed! They took the offer and that's why I'm here." Aqua grinned. "The other guys have decided to sign the contract today, so I was sent to pick up your brother."

"Pick up my brother?" Naminé's brows furrowed.

"The contract will be signed at the Square Enix Hotel in Traverse Town," Aqua explained. "We have a few hours to get there, so I think we should go as soon as possible."

Naminé nodded. It was actually happening; her brother's dream would finally come true. Naminé beamed at Aqua, who smiled back at her. Naminé could feel the tears welling up in her eyes, threatening to spill down her rosy cheeks. "This is so wonderful, I can't believe it."

Aqua placed a hand on Naminé's lap. "If you'd like to, you can come along." She said gently.

Naminé was about to reply when the door behind them opened. Both young women turned around to see Mrs. Potts walking in with a worried face. Naminé stood and then she realized that her brother wasn't anywhere in sight, especially as she stepped into the room. The young blonde raised a hand to her heart and closed it nervously.

"Where's Snow?" Naminé asked as she walked towards the older woman.

Mrs. Potts sighed heavily. "He's sick."

Naminé blinked. "But he was fine a few hours ago."

"It seems that he ate something that made him terribly sick." Mrs. Potts said. "He's in the infirmary; Belle's taking care of him."

Precisely at that moment the door opened a bit more and a young woman in her late twenties walked in. She had sienna colored hair, caramel colored eyes, and she was wearing a blue dress and a white apron tied at her waist.

"How's Snow doing, Belle?" asked Mrs. Potts.

"Not too good." Belle sighed, moving away a strand of hair out of her face. "He threw up just a bit ago."

Naminé closed her eyes. She had always believed that Fate worked in mysterious ways, but things always turned out favorably. This was another trial; hopefully the results would be worth it.

Aqua walked beside Naminé and placed her hand on the smaller girl's shoulder. "We can postpone this for another day."

"Can you really do that?" Naminé asked hopefully, she prayed that the other members would be understanding of the situation and not be angry at Snow.

"He's too sick to go anywhere, right?" Aqua looked at Belle, who nodded. "I'll just call the manager and tell him what's going on." She smiled as she pulled out her cell phone from her jeans pocket.

"I better get back and check on Snow." Belle said before she excused herself and left the room. Mrs. Potts sighed and followed Belle out of the room.

Naminé turned around and watched Aqua as the bluenette spoke on the phone.

"Hey Terra!" Aqua smiled weakly. "Yeah, I'm here at the orphanage. Um, listen, there's a little problem. Snow won't be able to make it to the meeting today."

Naminé dearly hope that whoever this Terra person was would understand.

"See, apparently he ate something and he got sick from that." Aqua explained. "He's too sick to go anywhere. So I was thinking, is there any way we can postpone this meeting for another day?"

There was a moment of silence as the person on the other end replied to Aqua. But something told Naminé that things weren't going to be easy. Aqua's expression become less hopeful by the second, her eyes were avoiding direct contact with Naminé's own.

"There's nothing else that we can do?" Aqua sighed.

Naminé's heart skipped a beat at that.

Aqua's head bowed. "I'll see what I can do, Terra. Bye." She ended the conversation and fiddled around with her phone's charm strap absentmindedly. Aqua looked at Naminé sadly. "If the contract doesn't get signed today, then it'll no longer be valid and all four guys will lose their chance."

Naminé's heart sank as she sat down on the sofa. "How is that possible?"

Aqua sighed and sat next to the blonde. "Our boss has this thing for numbers…and he wants a four man band. The contract was done two days after the audition; it's just that Terra wasn't aware of the new terms. See, he thought that he'd be managing a three member group, but that changed. So he took a few days to look at other possible soloists that might like to join a group; amongst those soloists was your brother."

"But why does the contract expire after just one week?" Naminé asked. "It's an unreasonable time frame for a contract."

"I agree with you, I thought it was pretty stupid." Aqua said. "But see, it wasn't just these three guys that were selected as a possible group, there were many others. It just so happens that these guys were the cream of the crop, the company's top choice. And your brother's talents certainly impressed me, so I recommended him to Terra."

Naminé felt a terrible swooping sensation in the pit of her stomach. "If my brother doesn't make it, then everything will be lost." She closed her eyes. "Not just my brother's future, but the other three's as well."

"Do you mind if I see how your brother's doing?" Aqua said softly.

Naminé nodded and the two got up and left the room. They walked a few doors down, passed Belle's office and went inside the infirmary. The room had several beds lined up on both sides of the walls. At the far end, on the left side, on the last bed, was Snow. His cerulean colored eyes stared grimly at the ceiling, as if it were somehow responsible for his misfortune. The two young women approached him, his eyes shifted to them when they were a few steps away from him.

"Are you feeling better, Snow?" Naminé asked as she sat at his side.

He grimaced. "Not really."

"What did you eat?" Naminé asked gently.

Snow rolled his eyes. "I accidentally ate a bit of a peanut butter sandwich instead of my baloney sandwich at lunch."

"Peanut butter?" Aqua blinked. "Are you allergic to peanut butter?"

Snow nodded. "Sadly yes. I was eating with one of my friends, Chip Potts, when I accidently grabbed his sandwich instead of mine."

Naminé smiled softly at him.

_Typical Snow._

"Miss Aqua?" He croaked.

"Please, just call me Aqua." She smiled.

"Oh. How is everything going with the contract?" He said weakly.

Aqua's smile faded. "I'm sorry but unless the contract gets signed today…it'll be voided."

Snow sat up immediately. "W-what?"

"I'm sorry, there isn't anything I can do to change that." Aqua said sadly.

"So I have to go sign it…" Snow murmured.

"You're too sick to go anywhere, Snow." Naminé said.

"But if I don't go, then everything will have been for nothing!" Snow defended.

"Snow, I know this means a lot to you, but you're too sick!" Naminé insisted. She grabbed his shoulders and tried to get him to lie down. He refused and brushed her off and got out of his bed.

"See?" He panted. "I'm fine. I can go to the meeting just fine!"

He blinked rapidly before almost collapsing on the floor, but Aqua held onto him. She tried to steady the heated young man as Naminé helped her sit him down on his bed.

"You won't be able to go in that state, Snow." Aqua said gently. "The ride is almost three hours, you'll get car sick."

Snow shook his head. "…this isn't fair."

Naminé closed her eyes as she sat next to him and rested her head on his shoulder. "I'm so sorry, Snow…"

He looked at her and gave her a weak look. His eyes, so much like her own, were dull and life lifeless. He stared at her momentarily before turning back to Aqua. "Is there any way that Naminé can sign in my place?"

Aqua and Naminé's eyes widened. "I'm not sure she can." Aqua replied. "I'm pretty sure that it has to be you personally."

Snow groaned. "But she's my sister! We look almost alike, except for the fact that I'm taller!"

Aqua smiled. "I don't think that qualifies her. Maybe if you guys had both been boys, Naminé could have pretended to be you and she could have signed in your place and no one would know."

Snow's eyes had a sudden glow in them, his cerulean orbs focusing on his sister. "Nami, what size do you wear?"

"Um, it depends on the clothing…" she said slowly. "But usually between medium and small."

He looked down at his own shirt. "Would this fit you?"

_Where is this going?_ She frowned. "I think so."

"Try it on." Snow quickly removed his black, long-sleeved shirt and gave it to her. She looked at Aqua who was looking at Snow as if she were analyzing him. Naminé put on her brother's shirt over her yellow and white checkered spaghetti strap dress. It was a bit loose on her, but otherwise, it was fine.

"Tell me you're not serious." Aqua said. Naminé looked from the bluenette to her brother.

"It's the only way." He replied seriously. "Besides, it'll just be this one time."

"Are you forgetting that she's a girl?" Aqua said as she folded her arms. "No matter how much you two look alike, she has breasts!"

Naminé felt awkward at that comment, but Snow looked rather unfazed. "So have her put on a jacket or a scarf!"

The pieces were coming together and it dawned on Naminé what he was up to. "You want me to dress up as you?"

He nodded. "It's the only way to get this contract signed." He reasoned. "Come on, Nami. It'll only be for this one time."

Aqua shook her head. "Even if we dressed her like a rocker, she still has way too many feminine features."

"Don't you guys have make up for that?" Snow asked. "Give her a mustache, a unibrow or something to make her look masculine!"

Naminé's jaw dropped. "Snow, you know that I'd do anything to help you, but I don't think we can pull this off." She said sadly. "I'm too thin-"

"Wear loose clothing to hide it." He countered.

"-I'm too short-"

"Wear those big sneakers that some dancers wear in those hip hop videos."

"…."

Aqua whistled. "Wow, you really have this planned out." He smiled. "But one more thing, Snow. Naminé's voice is nowhere near manly."

He looked at his sister then turned back to Aqua. "You told the manager I was sick, right?" When Aqua nodded, Snow grinned triumphantly. "Then Naminé shouldn't talk."

Aqua and Naminé blinked. "What?"

"Just say that I'm too sick to talk." He said. "And if you're asked to say something Nami, simply make gagging noises. It'll be that simple. "

Aqua looked somewhat skeptical but nodded. "Wow, you got past all of the loop holes." She unfolded her arms and looked at Naminé. "It's your call, Naminé."

Naminé looked at her brother uncertainly. "All I need to do is sign the contract, right?"

"Yeah, that's all you need to do, Nami." Snow said encouragingly. "Just this once, please?"

Naminé closed her eyes. She was sure that her brother would do anything for her, and he would expect no less of her either. She looked at her brother, his pleading eyes shining in the light. She looked over at Aqua, who smiled gently at her. Naminé got up from the bed and took a deep breath.

"Okay." She exhaled. "I'll do it."

Snow beamed and stood up and hugged her tightly. "Thank you so much, Nami!"

She laughed as he let her go, and she looked at Aqua who grinned at her. "We should leave immediately, we have to be there in a few hours and we have a lot of work to do."

Naminé nodded and took of her brother's shirt and gave it back to him. "What clothes should I take?"

"Don't worry about that." Aqua smiled. "I have that covered." She waved her cell phone and quickly dialed a number. "Hey Kairi! Listen, I got a little project that requires your knowledge in fashion. Will you help me?"

* * *

><p>After deciding to not take a cab to get to the hotel, the three young men walked all the way to make time. After the conversation with Terra, all three of them were too anxious to actually wait for six hours. They showered one by one, dressed in their best casual clothes, and decided to kill the time by getting dinner along the way. Sora had suggested that they should have stopped by the ice cream parlor and they did.<p>

Roxas noticed that they sold sea-salt ice cream and decided to buy one bar. With just one lick he could relived many memories from their vacation in Twilight Town. Riku got one to try it at Sora's suggestion, but didn't like it.

"Bleargh," Riku gagged as they walked down the streets of Travers Town. "This stuff tastes disgusting."

"It always tastes funny on the first bite." Roxas told him. He loved sea-salt ice cream; he could eat it all day.

"You'll get used to it!" Sora smiled as he took a bit bite from his own bar.

Riku looked rather skeptical as he looked at his melting bar of ice cream. "I doubt it."

Roxas laughed. "It's not going to attack you, Riku."

Riku shrugged as he attempted to take another bite. Sora laughed loudly when Riku's face contorted in absolute disgust. Riku looked at his bar as if it had mortally offended him and threw it away in the closest trash bin.

"Aw what a waste!" Sora laughed. "You should have given it to me Riku."

"It would have melted by the time you finished eating yours." Riku said.

"I don't know about that." Roxas chuckled. "One time, he ate three bars in one sitting."

Riku's eyes narrowed at Sora. "The fact that I'm not the least bit surprised by that scares me."

The two cousins laughed as they neared the First District. The difference was astounding. This was definitely the more touristic part of the town; there were restaurants, shops, cinemas, malls, celebrity homes and such. Roxas was reminded of Radiant Garden, the home of entertainment. All the major entertainment industries were there. Roxas looked at his phone. It was almost time; they had about twenty minutes left.

"Guys, we need to hurry up." Roxas told the other two. "We need to get there as early as we can."

"You're right." Riku agreed. "We're not too far from the hotel, but we should make haste."

Sora gobbled up the rest of his ice cream as Roxas wolfed down his own bar. They jogged lightly for a bit through the throng of pedestrians, trying not to bump into anyone. They finally spotted the grand Square Enix Hotel, with ten minutes to spare. They stopped jogging as they walked inside the main lobby and the hotel was truly a sight to behold. Beautiful polished marble floors, golden framed doorways, magnificent paintings all around the walls, expensive leather couches and sofas, and the most eye catching sight of all; a large glass, tear drop-shaped chandelier and right beneath it was a gorgeous grand piano.

The guys walked past it marveling at its glorious beauty. Roxas spotted the front reception desk and promptly approached the concierge.

The blond-haired man behind the counter stared at Roxas quite suspiciously. "May I help you, young man?"

_Well at least this guy is polite._ "Hi, I do believe that there's a Mr. Terra Dohring who's expecting my friends and I."

The older blond began typing in his computer and glanced at Roxas every now and then.

_Why does he keep looking at me? What a creep._

Roxas felt someone's hand on his shoulder and saw Sora at his left side. Behind them was Riku, who was still marveling at the grand piano a few feet away from them.

"Indeed, you are correct." The man behind the counter said. "You'll find Mr. Dohring in hall D."

"Where is that at?" Sora asked.

"Go down all the way to the elevators at the end of the lobby. Hall D is in the fourth floor and is the fourth event room." The man said in a dull voice.

"Thanks." They said. They walked away from the reception desk and walked past the main lobby rest area. After walking for a bit more, they came at the end where they saw a magnificent staircase that was carpeted with a red velvet piece at the center of the steps.

"Look!" Sora pointed to four elevators on the left hand side of the stairs. The three of them walked over to the elevators and quickly got inside one. As soon as they were all inside, Sora immediately pressed the button for the fourth floor. Riku chuckled at Sora's eagerness, and Roxas smiled.

He honestly couldn't blame Sora for his excitement. He too, was on the verge of wanting to leap out of his own skin from the sheer excitement. Riku looked calm and collected as he always did, Roxas though that that would be a good skill to have. When they reached the fourth floor, the guys immediately began to scan the signs on top of the double doors.

"Keep an eye out for Hall D." Roxas reminded them. They walked a bit further down the long, wide hallway when Sora stopped and pointed at the door on their right hand side.

"There it is." Sora said. He was starting to look a bit more eager than before. Roxas had the sudden case of the nerves as Riku opened the double doors. They easily spotted Terra sitting down on one of the long tables at in the middle of the room; it looked like it seated about eight people. Roxas noticed how there were smaller tables all around the room; they looked like they seated up to five people. It reminded Roxas of a wedding reception for some reason.

Terra stood up from his seat and smiled broadly at the three young men.

"Welcome guys!" He beamed. "Glad to see you guys could make on time."

The three guys avoided eye contact with each other, as each one shook hands with Terra. "So, where do we sign?" Roxas asked.

Terra laughed. "Whoa, hold on to your horses! We have to wait for our fourth member to arrive!"

Roxas looked around the room. He had now just realized that indeed, they were missing their other member. "When is he getting here?"

"In a few minutes," the taller brunette said. "I just got a call from Aqua, the lead choreographer. She said they ran into some traffic and will be here ASAP."

Roxas frowned. "As long as he shows up..."

"Rox, relax." Sora smiled. "He'll be here. I have a feeling that this means a lot to him as it does to us."

Roxas sighed. Sora was right; the guy wouldn't be stupid enough to pass up this opportunity.

They sat down on the chairs in front of the long table as Terra handed them each a white folder with a blue heart in the middle with the words 'Kingdom Hearts Records' in rather spiked print. Just holding the folder was almost surreal, and the feeling only became more immense when Roxas opened his folder and saw the smooth sheet of papers listing the terms of their contract. Roxas skimmed through the print and saw the fifth page, where he would be sealing his fate.

"This is a five year contract?" Riku asked.

Roxas snapped into attention as he looked over at the silverette. He was so preoccupied with getting everything over with, that he missed that point.

"It's just standard procedure." Terra assured them. "When you guys become the big success you're destined to be, you can always renew your contract."

Riku didn't press on further, as at that moment the double doors opened. Roxas turned to see who it was.

A much older man, old enough to be his own father, walked into the room. He had thick black hair that was tied into a pony tail behind his head, with a few strands of hair loosely framing the sides of his face. He walked with such dignity and poise that Roxas felt ashamed for some reason. Unlike Terra, who was dressed in a t-shirt and jeans, this man was dressed much more formally. He was wearing a white button-up shirt with a black blazer and black slacks.

"Guys, this is Eraqus Hamill," Terra said with a hint of pride. "He's the company's vice-president."

The three of them immediately stood up and vigorously shook hands with the company V.P.

"A pleasure to meet you all." Eraqus said. "What are your names?"

"I'm Sora Osment!"

"My name's Roxas McCartney."

"Riku Gallagher."

Eraqus smiled at them before turning to face Terra. "Aqua has just arrived with the new member."

"Excellent!" Terra beamed. He went back to their table as Eraqus took a seat next to Terra's. "Okay guys, in case you didn't already guess, I'll be your manager."

Roxas had hoped as much, he really didn't want to deal too much with another stranger. Terra was despite his tough exterior a likeable guy, and Roxas felt that Terra was an honest man and worthy of their trust.

The guys sat back down when the double doors behind them opened. A tall, voluptuous woman with short blue hair walked in first; behind her was a shorter another girl with vibrant red hair, and right behind her was a frail-looking person with short blonde hair. The last person was wearing a black thin zipper jacket, and loose fitting jeans. He looked like he was in still in high school.

_Is that the guy? No way that's him! He looks way too girly!_

"Aqua!" Terra smiled as he got up from his seat. The bluenette waved at him. "Kairi, I'm surprised to see you here!" The redheaded girl gave him a friendly smile.

As the three figures approached their table, Roxas could see their new band member more closely. His eyes were rather big, and he had full lashes. He had a small nose and puffy lips. He kept his gaze downwards, avoiding eye contact with everyone, except for the redhead in front of him.

"Guys this is Snow Martin." Terra smiled. He walked up to the meek guy and gave him a one armed hug. The new guy's cheeks were instantaneously red. "Don't be shy, say hi!"

Snow's eyes immediately looked at the bluenette, a panicked look in them. Aqua cleared her throat.  
>"Snow's a bit sick and he can't talk. It's why we were late." She said, smiling at Terra.<p>

"It's true," Eraqus said. "I saw him looking quite sick when they arrived."

"Oh by the way guys," Terra said. "This is Kairi; she's the main stylist and fashion coordinator."

Kairi smiled brightly as Aqua sat on the other side of Terra. Snow's eyes shifted again as he took a seat next to Roxas, Kairi took the empty seat next to Aqua, right across from Sora and smiled and him. Roxas could see Sora's cheeks growing red despite his cousin's tan. Even Riku smirked at Sora.

"Okay guys, now that we're all here, let's go over the terms." Eraqus told them, handing Snow his own contract.

All of them sat quietly while Terra, Aqua and Eraqus explained all the details of the contract. From his peripheral vision, Roxas could see Snow was trying to look at him, Sora and Riku, but when ever his eyes met with Roxas's, the other blond would look away blushing furiously. Roxas tilted his head in Snow's direction, and sky blue eyes were met with cerulean hues.

He didn't know why, but for some reason, Roxas felt drawn into Snow's eyes, like if he was being hypnotized. He looked away and turned his attention back to the contract in front of him. When Eraqus finished reading out loud, he looked over at the four members in front of him.

"There you are, boys." He said serenely. "This will be your five years with us."

_Dammit, I should have paid attention! I'll ask Riku or Sora later._

"The first thing we'll do is record your debut song." Terra said. "Then you'll work with Aqua for a few weeks getting ready for your first live performance."

_Wow, in just a few weeks?_

"You'll also be working closely with Kairi." Aqua said patting Kairi's red tresses. "She's in charge of making you guys look good."

Kairi laughed. "Don't be scared guys, I don't bite."

Roxas looked over at Sora, he certainly looked thrilled at the idea of 'working closely' with Kairi. Roxas caught Riku's eye and the silverette smiled, but quickly covered it behind his hand. Roxas turned back towards the front as Terra was handing them pens.

"Ready guys?" He smiled. "Go ahead and sign."

Roxas gripped his pen and placed it on the paper. He had always hated his terrible penmanship, but today his signature looked amazing. He added the date and handed the contract to Aqua, who sat directly in front of him. Riku handed Kairi his folder, with Sora handing out his own with a goofy grin on his face. Lastly, Snow handed his contract to Terra and looked at Aqua who gave the small-framed boy a reassuring smile. The smaller blond placed his hand over his mouth, his cerulean eyes looking all around the room impatiently.

"It's official." Eraqus said proudly as he stood up. "Welcome, Keyblade Wielders to Kingdom Hearts."

All the others stood up as well as the newly signed band proudly got up from their seats. Congratulatory handshakes were passed all around, as well as hug from the two women. Sora certainly looked rather happy when Kairi gave him a hug. Roxas turned to his right as Snow had finished shaking hands with Terra and Eraqus.

Sky and cerulean eyes met. Roxas held out his hand and Snow took it. Neither gripped the other's hand strongly, but Roxas was overflowed with a feeling of familiarity that he couldn't explain.

* * *

><p><strong>Hope you enjoyed the chapter! I'll try to work on doing smaller chapters...at least I think people don't mind long chapters. Let me know please, I'd really appreciate some feedback! I'd love to know if anyone is enjoying this story, so please leave a review!<strong>


	5. The Start

**Thank you so much for the reviews! It really keeps me motivated to do my best to bring you this story. And as for the long chapter thing...yeah. *laughs nervously***

**Anyways, I hope you'll enjoy this chapter! There are some items here that you'll probably need to google, but nothing too big.**

**I do not own Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy or Disney.**

* * *

><p><strong>The Start<strong>

**Sunday, May 17**

When Naminé pushed on the revolving door of the hotel's entrance, she could hardly believe what had just taken place. She had dressed as her twin brother and signed the contract that would make him a star. But the biggest part that still gave her a hard time to accept was that the group that her brother was going to be a part of was none other than the Keyblade Wielders. As she walked down the steps leading to the front entrance she stopped walking and turned around.

It was true. The very same band that she had seen a week ago was now before her very eyes. She mentally kicked herself for still not knowing their names; she had been too preoccupied with getting out of the place that she didn't think to ask for their names. Aqua walked out of the hotel next, Kairi was a few steps away from the bluenette, but she was busy chatting with the energetic brunette, who looked utterly mystified by the redhead. Behind them was the tall silverette, who was trying to hide a wide smile on his face. Whether it was from the brunette's behavior or because he was happy to have signed the contract she didn't know. Then, last but certainly not least, the handsome blond walked out. He seemed to be in his own little world at the moment, he looked rather impassive. She could hardly believe that just a few minutes ago, she had been sitting so close to him. And then when they shook hands…she could almost feel electricity running through her entire body.

She was brought out of her reverie as she felt a tender hand on her shoulder; it was Aqua, who smiled proudly at her. Naminé returned the smile, but quickly masked it as the others approached closer to her. Kairi finished her conversation with the jovial brunette as his eyes moved from the red haired girl and focused on Naminé's. She was taken a bit off guard when he beamed at her; his eyes reminded her of Roxas's own sky blue orbs.

"Sorry I didn't introduce myself!" He said as he walked towards her. "I'm Sora!"

Naminé smiled at him, she felt terrible that she couldn't give him a proper reply. Sora looked like he'd be the sweetest guy she would ever know. She felt sure that if they had met under different circumstances, they would've been great friends. He gave her a one armed hug and grinned goofily.

"I can't wait to hear you sing." He told her. "I'm not of a singer myself, so it's great to know that someone else besides Roxas and Riku will sing."

_Roxas and Riku? I wonder which one is which._

She glanced over at the approaching silverette, who seemed to be following Sora's example and introduced himself. "I'm Riku, nice to meet you." He said politely, holding out his hand for Naminé to shake. She took his hand and when she let go, he stared at his hand curiously. He looked back at her with a strange look on his face, but whatever thought he had it seemed to vanish when the blond approached them.

_He must be Roxas…_

With one look at him and Naminé could feel her stomach doing somersaults, and her heart having a spasm attack. His beautiful sky blue eyes focused on her and she tried to fight against the blush that was spreading on her cheeks.

He cleared his throat. "I'm Roxas." He said in a soft voice.

_Roxas, such a unique name…_

His name danced around her head as she gave him a shy smile as her reply. He didn't hold out his hand for her to shake, but then again, she had just shaken his hand about ten minutes ago. She couldn't keep meeting his gaze and her eyes looked downward, but she could feel his eyes on her, she felt her cheeks growing warmer. She heard footsteps approaching them and saw that Mr. Terra and Mr. Eraqus were walking towards them. Mr. Eraqus was holding a briefcase where all the signed contracts where in, he shook hands with Terra before turning to face the rest.

"We'll be seeing you all again in two days, then." He said. "A 'pick up' crew will come to get you all, along with your personal belongings and your instruments." A silver Maybach 62 Zeppelin came up the curve as a parking valet employee stepped out of the vehicle and handed the keys over to Mr. Eraqus.

_Two days?_Naminé tilted her head. _Hopefully my brother will be better by then!_

"I'll see you all in our main offices in Radiant Garden." Eraqus smiled at them before getting inside the vehicle and driving off.

"Wow, only two days huh?" Sora said as he scratched the back of his head.

"Did you want to wait longer?" Kairi giggled, as she placed her hands behind her.

Sora looked at her and grinned sheepishly. "No, two days works for me!"

Naminé could see Riku trying to hide his smirk and Roxas shook his head, clearly holding back his laughter. She too, found it cute, how Sora acted around Kairi even if the two didn't know each other. Mr. Terra walked next to Riku and looked at Aqua. "Are you taking Snow home?"

Aqua nodded. "I certainly am." She turned around and smiled at the smaller blonde. "Ready to go, Snow?"

Naminé beamed at the bluenette, she felt guilty that she was lying to her brother's new band mates. They were such well mannered guys; she knew that her brother would easily get along with them. Sora turned back to look at her and smiled. "I hope you'll feel better," he said brightly. "I look forward to working with you, Shorty!"

Naminé inwardly laughed and she covered her mouth with her hand. Riku looked at her and gave her a gentle smile. "Take care, we'll see you soon."

Naminé nodded at him when her eyes met Roxas's sky blue hues. She gulped, feeling her heart beat picking up rapidly. His lips curved up into a small smile, she swore her heart had stopped beating at that moment. "See you later, Snow."

Terra walked up to the guys and shook their hands and patted Naminé's shoulder before walking over to Kairi and gave her a light hug, and then he walked over to hug Aqua. She gave Terra a goodbye kiss on the cheek as he walked towards the round curve where a valet employee drove up in a dark red Jaguar XF; he walked out of the car and gave Terra the keys.

"See you guys at the main offices!" Terra said loudly before getting inside his vehicle and driving off.

Aqua patted Naminé's shoulder and motioned the young girl forward, with Kairi walking behind them. Naminé looked over her shoulder and her eyes fell on Roxas one more time, his eyes seemed to glow, which made her heart flutter like a humming bird's wings. She did her very best to ignore it as the three young women waved goodbye before walking away from the hotel, to a relatively empty parking lot across the street.

"Wow." Kairi exhaled. "That worked out rather well."

"Thank goodness." Naminé sighed.

They approached Aqua's navy blue BMW M6 Coupe, as the tall bluenette took out her keys from her jeans and opened her door. She pressed a button on her door and there was a 'click' noise that came from the other doors. Kairi opened the door to the co-pilot seat as Naminé opened the backseat door, sat on the cool leather seat and sighed. "I did it."

"I'm just glad that Terra didn't ask you to speak, Naminé, or that would have blown our cover." Aqua said as she turned on her car.

"I'm sure your brother will be thrilled." Kairi beamed from the front seat. She turned to look at Aqua. "Where are we going?"

"We're heading back to the orphanage," she said as they came to a traffic light. "Snow needs to hear the news."

"Can't we get something to eat first?" Kairi asked. "I'm craving some pizza."

"You have a point, and I'm pretty hungry myself." Aqua replied. She looked at Naminé over her rearview mirror. "Naminé, are you hungry?"

"I don't want to impose." Naminé mumbled as the car moved forward.

"Oh sweetie, it's no big deal!" Aqua smiled at her. "I know you don't have any money on you, so don't worry."

Naminé still felt it was wrong, but she knew also knew it was rude to turn down an invitation. "O-okay."

"Yay, awesome-sauce!" Kairi said in a sing song voice. "We can use the bathrooms there so you can change your clothes."

Naminé looked down at her current apparel; it wasn't hers, much less her brother's. When they had left the orphanage, Aqua had driven out to the outskirts of Traverse Town and stopped at a nearby motel. It was there that Naminé was introduced to the cheery redhead. Aqua told Kairi of the situation at hand and asked Kairi if she had brought the 'stuff'.

Kairi had showed her several fancy-looking paper bags with large brand name logos on them; Aqua took them and looked inside. They booked a room as Aqua took out several different types of clothes and spread them all out on the large bed, and asked Naminé to try out each one. Naminé had done as she was asked and tried on different types of combinations until they reached a unanimous decision.

"Hey Naminé?" Kairi's voice broke Naminé out of her reverie. "I noticed that Roxas kept looking at you."

_Oh no…my heart!_ Her heart began to beat so fast that she was sure they could hear all the noise it made. She knew that her cheeks were brighter than a red light."I…didn't notice." She said quietly.

Kairi turned to her left side and looked at Naminé directly. "Really? I thought you did."

Naminé shook her head. "What made you think that?"

"Because you kept hiding your eyes from him." Kairi smiled.

"That's because…" Naminé wondered whether it would even matter talking about her encounter with Roxas and Riku during the auditions.

The car came to a halt at a Pizza Hut restaurant parking lot. "Let's eat here." Aqua said as she removed her seat belt. Naminé looked out her window and smiled, she had eaten this pizza beforehand so she was happy with the choice. The three girls walked out of the car, Naminé had a fancy paper bag on her hand, and Kairi was texting rapidly on her black and hot pink sliding phone. Aqua walked in front of them and reached the main door and opened it from them. Kairi and Naminé walked over to a double seated table by the left wall, close to a window. The redhead and the blonde sat next to each other while the bluenette sat opposite them and grabbed a small menu and looked at it.

"Anything you girls would like in particular?" Aqua asked them.

"Not really," the blonde smiled. "Just food."

Kairi giggled. "Same here."

Aqua looked at them and grinned. "Okay, I'll just get two large pepperonis, then." She got out of her seat and walked over to main counter to place their order.

Kairi pulled out her cell phone from her dress pocket and texted, before she turned towards the girl sitting next to her. "Hey, you should go change your clothes Naminé."

"Oh right." Naminé gripped her bag and looked in the direction of the restrooms; there was a couple sitting across from them. Naminé hesitated; Kairi caught Naminé's line of eyesight and smiled at her.

"I have an idea."Kairi grinned mischievously, taking Naminé's hand.

She got out of her seat taking Naminé with her, and walked past several empty tables and walked towards the restrooms. The male's room was on the left side and the women's room was on the right side. Kairi held her palm out as she looked inside the women's room, letting Naminé wait. She walked out and gave Naminé a thumps up. "Coast is clear!"

Naminé nodded and walked past Kairi entering the restroom, and quickly got inside the handicapped stall, locking the door behind her. She removed her black thin-zipper jacket and slung it over the support bar, and then she quickly removed the rest of her borrowed clothes placing them all on the support bar. She then took out her own yellow-and-white checkered dress and put it on. She sighed contentedly when she felt her own familiar clothing embracing her body, it felt wonderful to her. She then took out her white flats from inside the bag and removed her Van's, before slipping on her smaller shoes. She removed her borrowed clothing from the support bar and neatly folded each piece inside the bag, then placed the shoes on top. Then, she took off the short blonde wig she was wearing, letting her own blonde tresses fall freely to her shoulders. She placed the wig on top of the shoes and picked up the bag gingerly.

She turned around and unlocked the door and walked out of the stall calmly, taking a good look at herself in the vanity mirrors close to the sinks. She felt better now that she looked like herself again, she liked her borrowed clothes and all, but she felt they would look better on a guy. She smiled happily at her reflection before she turned to the bathroom door. Naminé was about to head out, when Kairi came rushing in a panic.

"They're here!" She breathed.

"'They'?" Naminé blinked. "Who's 'they'?"

"Who else?" Kairi said incredulously. "Your new band mates, that's who!"

Naminé gasped and let her bag drop, her hands reaching up to cover her mouth. "W-what?"

"They just walked in!" Kairi hissed as she opened the door slightly to look outside. "Aqua thinks we should go out the door next to the bathrooms so they won't see us."

Naminé bent down and picked up the bag. "But I'm dressed as a girl."

"I know, that's what I said to her!" Kairi replied, looking at Naminé over her shoulder. "But she said we shouldn't take any chances."

At that, Kairi backed away from the door and Aqua walked in. "Did you tell her?" She asked Kairi, to which the redhead nodded. "Okay, we need to get you out of here unnoticed."

"But I'm not dressed as my brother." Naminé reminded her.

"Yes, I know." Aqua replied gently. "But they know you left with us. If they see Kairi and I, they'll wonder where 'Snow' went."

"And if you do the timing right, we should be nearing Serenity Meadows." Kairi reasoned.

"They can add the pieces and figure out why 'Snow' isn't around." Aqua sighed.

They did have a point, and besides, both Roxas and Riku had already seen her as herself. Maybe one of them might remember her…somehow. "Okay, so how do we do this?"

"I'll keep an eye on them." Aqua said. "When it's safe to go out, I'll text you Kairi. Then you two make a run for it." Aqua took the fancy paper bag from Naminé's hands and quickly donned the black thin-zipper jacket and haphazardly placed the short blond wig on her hair. She quickly walked out of the restroom with the bag on her upper arm as the blonde and redhead waited. Kairi leaned against the stall behind her as Naminé leaned against the vanity counter; Kairi pulled her cell phone from her dress pocket and flipped it open. After waiting for a few minutes, both snapped into attention when they heard a familiar voice approaching.

"I'm just gonna wash my hands while you guys order."

Naminé recognized the owner of that melodic voice immediately. _Roxas!_ The rate of her heart beat picked up instantly.

"Uh oh…" Kairi muttered. She moved closer to the door as she flipped her phone open. "Okay, Aqua says we should leave now." She grabbed the hoodie of her dress and quickly hid her red locks behind it, before turning to face Naminé and whispering, "Make sure you keep your head down."

Naminé nodded as Kairi walked out first, but left the door slightly ajar and waved her hand in a forward motion. The blonde moved forward and opened the door a bit more and saw Kairi at the archway a few steps away, looking in the direction of the main counter.

Naminé opened the door completely as she walked out, giving it a slight shove when she felt the door stop abruptly.

"Whoa!"

She walked out of the door frame as the door began to swing close. Her heart beat picked up. When the door swung close, Naminé found herself looking right into Roxas's sky blue orbs. She froze in her place as Roxas blinked at her.

"So-sorry." She mumbled.

He smiled at her but before he could say anything she felt a hand on her wrist pulling her forcefully. As she was being dragged away, Naminé saw Roxas's eyes looking at her with a confused expression. His face became more distant, Naminé turned to look at her side and saw the back of Kairi's hoodie. They stepped out into the cool evening air. The sky was a kaleidoscope of yellow, orange, and red hues with a tint of purple. The two finally stopped running when they reached Aqua's dark blue BMW M6 Coupe and quickly hid behind the car.

"That was close." Kairi panted. "Why didn't you move when you saw him?"

"I co-couldn't…" Naminé whispered. "It's like my body froze."

"It must have been from the shock." Kairi said as she pulled out her phone and flipped it open, texting at rapid speed. "Okay, I just let Aqua know we're outside."

Naminé looked up from the side of Aqua's car and looked at the restaurant. She easily spotted the three guys sitting in a double seated table by the window closest to the main door. Sora was seated next to Roxas as Riku walked over them with empty cups and straws. Sora grabbed a straw as Riku set down the cups; Sora ripped the paper wrap from one end, and then blew into his straw forcing the paper to fly right into Riku's face as he was sitting down. Riku flinched when the paper hit his face close to his eye. Sora burst out in laughter as Roxas let out a laugh and Riku pointed his index finger threateningly at the brunette.

Naminé giggled. "Sora is such a dork, isn't he?"

Kairi sighed dreamily. "An adorable dork."

"It's not nice to spy on people, you know."

The two girls jumped and looked up to see Aqua approaching them. She was still wearing the thin jacket and the blond wig…which made her look weird. She was also carrying two large pizza boxes, which she handed one to each of the younger girls. She then fished her keys out of her jeans pocket and unlocked her door, then pressed a button on the inside the door and the girls heard a 'click' on their doors. All three girls got inside the car as Aqua removed the jacket and wig, placed them inside the bag and then tossed the bag carelessly to the back seat. Naminé leaned over and moved the bag down on the foot space, then set down the pizza box on the empty seat. Aqua turned on the car and pulled out of the relatively empty parking lot.

As they drove out through the streets, Naminé couldn't help but feel happy that Roxas had seen her as herself one more time.

* * *

><p>"Wab ib u ys fid abo eh dew buy?" Sora said with his mouth full.<p>

Roxas and Riku looked at the brunette. He had cheese hanging from his mouth and he had tomato sauce on his cheek. Riku let out a snort as Roxas shook his head and tossed his cousin a napkin.

"Wipe your face Sora." Roxas smirked. "Also, I'm afraid that I don't speak Soraese."

Sora took the napkin and swallowed his food. "I said, what did you guys think about the new guy?"

Riku took a sip of his drink. "I can't say much about him, since he himself couldn't even talk."

"I thought he was really short." Sora said before taking another bite of his pizza slice.

"I though he looked like a girl." Roxas said as he wiped his lips.

"Y'know, I thought that too." Sora mumbled. "He's really androgynous looking."

"Some guys just look that way." Riku said before taking a small bite.

"Yeah, before they hit puberty!" Sora snorted.

Riku shrugged and didn't say anything as he ate his dinner in silence. Roxas noticed that for some reason, Riku kept looking at his right hand in a curious manner.

"Hey Rox," Sora said suddenly. "Did you see those girls that ran out of the bathrooms like crazy maniacs?"

Roxas chuckled. "I was walking out when they walked out. One of them almost hit me in the face with the bathroom door."

Sora burst out in laughter. "Seriously?"

Roxas chuckled. "Yeah, I barely stopped it before it smacked me."

Riku joined in on the laughter, although he wasn't as loud as Sora. Roxas looked down at his drink and played around with the straw; he made it go around in a circular motion causing the ice cubes to crash into each other. His mind went back to that blonde girl that he had seen earlier. Her eyes were large and her lashes certainly brought out her eyes, a beautiful shade of blue, like the color of the ocean waves. Her hair was soft looking, he bet he could easily comb his fingers through it, and the color was a luminous shade of blonde, like the sun's rays at dawn. Her cheeks were a bright shade of pink, which certainly helped to bring some color onto her smooth-looking porcelain skin. Her lips looked soft and full, which was most noticeable with her small nose.

She had to be one of the, if not the, most beautiful girl he had ever seen. He was suddenly washed over by a strong urge to hold her in his arms and tenderly kiss her forehead. He shook off the thought.

_I shouldn't be feeling this way over a stranger…even if she is beautiful._He sighed. _Besides, it's not like I'll ever see her again, anyway._

* * *

><p>The sun had completely set over the horizon by the time they had arrived in Serenity Meadows. Naminé could see the large building in which she grew up in as they neared the orphanage. The car stopped right at the main gate, as Aqua pulled the keys out of the ignition. Naminé opened her door and stepped out of the car, giving her door a light push to close it. She stretched for a bit before the forces of nature clashed with her warm skin, causing her to wrap her arms around herself.<p>

"Wow, this place is huge!" Kairi said in awe. "You've lived here your whole life, huh?" She huddled over next to Naminé, both giggled when they noticed that they were both shivering from the cool nighttime air. And their dresses didn't really help them much either; Naminé's dress had spaghetti straps and Kairi's dress was strapless.

Naminé smiled. "My mother somehow stumbled across this place, and ended up giving birth to my brother and I here."

"How come you were never adopted?" Aqua asked as she approached them.

"I don't know…" Naminé answered honestly. "Some kids are just never adopted, some are."

The three young women walked up the five stone steps that led to a small, waist-height iron gate. Naminé pushed it open and let the other two walk past before she closed it, and the three of them walked up the three stone steps. Kairi and Naminé linked their arms together to keep each other warm, while Kairi linked her other arm to Aqua causing all three to laugh. They walked down a brick path that led them to the large doors of the orphanage's entrance.

The three of them unlinked their arms as Naminé turned to her right side to face both Kairi and Aqua. "I guess this is goodbye…" Naminé's voice was barely audible. She felt rather sad that the probability of ever seeing them again was slim to none; she could feel the tears welling up in her eyes.

"Oh don't say it like that!" Kairi moaned. She hugged Naminé tightly. "Maybe one day you'll be able to visit the main studios!"

_I certainly hope so,_ Naminé inwardly sighed. _Kairi is such a loveable person and Aqua is like a caring big sister._

"Your brother will be able to buy you a passage once the debut single is out." Aqua smiled. "Then, when you visit us, we'll give you a grand tour!"

"That sounds lovely." Naminé said in a dreamy tone.

Kairi moved aside so that Aqua could hug Naminé. "We'll keep in contact, okay?" The tall bluenette said in a motherly voice.

"You don't have to do that." Naminé sniffled, her tears threatening to spill.

"Of course we do!" Kairi pouted playfully. "That's what friends are for, hun!"

Naminé gave them a heartfelt smile, her tears staining her rosy cheeks. As the bluenette let go of her, the timid blonde wiped away her tears. She gave the other two women one more smile as they waved goodbye at her and walked in the direction of Aqua's car. Naminé watched her two new friends reach the small gate; as Naminé turned to knock on the large doors in front of her, she heard the faint sound of an approaching ambulance. Naminé turned back around and walked to the gate where both Kairi and Aqua had frozen in their places. They turned around when they heard Naminé's footsteps approaching them, each one giving the blonde a confused look.

"Did something happen?" Kairi said.

Naminé looked at her. "I don't know, calling the ambulance is a rarity here."

And sure enough, the villagers from the nearby houses were walking out of their homes in utter confusion and shock. Most of them chatted nervously amongst themselves, some others simply looked perplexed.

"What do the people do in case of an emergency?" Aqua asked.

"That's the thing," Naminé's voice was heavy with confusion. "Emergencies are very rare, and in any case, we have a doctor nearby."

The sound of the ambulance grew louder and after a few seconds the large white van with the word 'ambulance' emblazoned on the sides in large, bold red letters came into full view. Naminé was at first simply worried over the fact that an ambulance was nearing their village; now the rate of her heart beat picked up immensely when the ambulance parked right in front of the orphanage.

A bright light appeared on the ground suddenly, Naminé followed its trail with her eyes and found its source; Mrs. Potts was walking out hurriedly from inside the large building. Naminé sprinted towards her matron, her heart beating at the rate of a hummingbird's wings.

"What happened?" The blonde asked in a terrified voice.

Mrs. Potts closed her eyes. "…it's Snow."

Naminé felt as if time had stopped; she could no longer hear the sound of the loud siren, nor the chattering noises of the villagers in the background. She dared not even breathe as she found her weak voice to ask, "What happened to Snow?"

* * *

><p><strong>Tuesday, May 19<strong>

There was a loud thumping noise coming from somewhere, and Roxas hoped it would stop soon. His eyes were closed and he wanted to lose his consciousness and drift off into sound slumber once again. When the thumping noises continued, Roxas inwardly growled. It was probably Sora kicking around in his sleep again. Roxas pulled up his blanket and squeezed his eyes shut, refusing to open them. But the noise continued, and Roxas threw his pillow over his head, covering his ears. The thumping grew more persistent and suddenly Roxas felt someone kick his legs.

He opened his eyes and sat up straight and looked around for Sora, ready to give his darling cousin a taste of his own medicine. Sora was close to the other end of the room; his feet were in the bathroom doorway. Roxas narrowed his eyes at the brunette.

_Let's see how you like to be kicked, Sora!_

Roxas got out of his sleeping bag, threw his blankets aside and made his way to his cousin. Sora was sleeping with his mouth wide open, snoring loudly, drool leaking out of the side of his mouth, holding his pillow like it was a giant teddy bear between his chest and the floor. Roxas smirked; Sora's blankets were thrown to the side, leaving Sora in his t-shirt and boxers, completely exposing his legs.

Roxas moved closer to the bathroom, right where Sora's legs were directly in front of him. The blond raised his right leg before swinging it forward, hitting the brunette's shins. Roxas quickly ran back to his sleeping bag and threw his blankets on quickly.

"OW!" Sora roared.

Roxas could hear shuffling from the direction of the bathroom; he clamped his hand over his mouth and held back his laughter. He heard footsteps approaching rapidly; he closed his eyes, expecting any reaction from Sora.

His blankets suddenly flew of him and his shoulders were gripped tightly, he was then violently shaken.

"What was that for?" Sora yelled. He wasn't angry; Roxas could hear the laughter in Sora's voice. Sora then pushed Roxas onto his back as the blond let out a bark of laughter.

"What was that for, huh!" Sora repeated, his laughter was more evident now. He lightly punched Roxas's shoulder with every word.

"You kicked me!" Roxas tried to sound angry, but failed as his laughter got the best of him.

"What?" Sora breathed. "No I didn't! I wasn't even near you!"

"But then who else…?" Roxas gasped for air. Sora sat on his knees as his breathing became normal, and Roxas sat up. They looked at each other before turning to look at the other sleeping bag in the middle of the room.

"Riku…" They both hissed.

Roxas blinked; Riku's space was completely empty, his blankets were scattered and his slippers were gone.

"How nice of you to notice my absence." Came a voice from the kitchen doorway.

The two cousins turned around and saw Riku standing in the doorway with his arms crossed over his bare chest, giving them a reprimanding look.

"What are you doing up?" Sora asked as he swung his legs forward, sitting completely on the floor.

"If you two hadn't been so busy horsing around," Riku chuckled. "You would have heard that someone was knocking on our door."

_So that's what that thumping noise was!_Roxas felt stupid for not realizing it sooner.

Sora raised his eyebrows. "Who was it?"

"The 'pick up crew'." Riku replied.

"Pick up crew?" Sora echoed. "What are you talking about?"

Roxas felt like a ton of brick had landed on his head. "The KH pick up crew!"

Sora turned to look at Roxas; his face had 'utter confusion' written all over his forehead. Riku however, nodded.

Roxas got up quickly. "Today's the day we leave to go to Radiant Garden!"

Sora's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. "Holy crap! That day is today?"

Riku let out a laugh. "We better hurry, our flight leaves at 9am and we haven't even packed."

"Wait, what time is it right now?" Sora asked as he quickly picked up his blankets.

"It's 7 o'clock exactly." Riku answered as he and Roxas picked up their own make shift beds.

The three guys scrambled around to get ready while two muscular men came into their apartment took their instruments to the large black vans with a blue heart emblem on the sliding doors on the sides. The guys took turns showering, dressing, packing and supervising the bulky men; making sure that their belongings weren't damaged, especially their instruments. When they had all finished getting ready, the three of them walked down to the black vans, Roxas was the last one inside the car and as he buckled, he closed the sliding door. Sora gave Roxas his small backpack with all his personal belongings, as the cars drove out to the Traverse Town Airport.

The flight was about an hour long when they arrived at the Radiant Garden National Airport, which was far more wide and grand than the Traverse Town and Destiny Islands airports put together. They didn't have much trouble finding their belongings this time, even their instruments. They picked up all of their things and walked forward when they saw Terra waiting for them at the nearest exit. He was dressed in a form-fitting dark grey t-shirt and tan colored khakis, standing next to him was a man dressed in a chauffeur's uniform holding a sign that said 'Welcome Keyblade Wielders'. Terra smiled at the three guys as they approached him, patting them all on the shoulders. "How are you guys doing?"

"Pretty awesome!" Sora beamed. "And pretty hungry as well."

Terra laughed. "You'll get something to eat when we get to the main office building." They walked out of the airport and saw shiny midnight black Cadillac Escalade parked in the parking lot across from them.

Roxas's eyes widened at the sight of such large vehicle. "Is that for us?" He was almost afraid to ask the question, fearing that he'd be wrong. But when he saw the chauffer opening the trunk door, Roxas felt elated.

"Indeed it is." Terra replied. He walked over to the car as the guys slowly followed him.

"No way that's ours…" Sora whispered incredulously. "That's for a group of seven people, we're only three!"

"You're forgetting about Snow." Riku reminded him. "He may be here right now, but he will be eventually riding with us."

"Oh right, right!" Sora grinned. "I sure hope he feels better!"

"It's been two days," Roxas said. "He should at least be able to talk."

They put their luggage in the back and quickly hoped onto the leather seats. Terra and Riku sat in the first two seats, leaving the cousins to sit in the second two seats, with a seat for three people behind them empty. Sora brought down his arm rests and gave Roxas a lazy grin, which caused Roxas to chuckle.

The car to downtown Radian Garden was relatively pleasant, but as they neared the main gate into the city, Roxas's eyes widened. The entire city was spotless, the streets weren't very crowded, and overall the look made Roxas feel like he had just walked into a town right out of a fairytale.

"Roxas look!" Sora shook his shoulder. Roxas looked out his cousin's window and his jaw dropped; in the distance he could see a large, magnificent castle overlooking the entire city.

"Is that real?" Riku asked as he leaned against is window.

"Indeed it is." Terra nodded. "The lord of our city, Ansem the Wise, lives there."

"You guys have a monarchy?" Roxas asked never taking his eyes from the castle as they drove past it.

Terra laughed. "No, we just call him that. He's actually been our president for over 18 years running."

The large castle was soon out of their line of sight, and Roxas's eyes continued to take in all of the city's sights. As they continued forward, there was a distinct difference. The houses began to look less fairytale-ish and looked more modern and contemporary; there were also large commercial buildings, restaurants, malls, fast food joints, but most notably, sky scrapers. Roxas felt the excitement welling up inside him, he fought to keep himself from grinning like Sora.

"We'll be at the main offices shortly, guys. "Terra told them.

"Terra?" Riku spoke quietly. "Is Snow already there?"

"No he'll probably get there a little after we do." Terra replied casually. "Aqua picked him up about fifteen minutes after you guys boarded your plane."

"Is he normally late to everything?" Roxas muttered. The last thing he wanted was to look bad in front of the company's head honcho, he really wanted to avoid problems at all costs.

"No it's just that he lives further away than you guys do." Terra turned to his left side and faced Roxas, giving the blond a friendly smile.

Roxas said nothing more and decided to take a leaf out of Sora's book, sit back and watch the scenery. About thirty minutes later they arrived at an immense structure that was divided by two buildings but were joined together by long walkways. The two building were at least four stories each, Roxas could see that there were several visible staircases. The place was far wider and grander that the Square Enix Hotel.

They drove up to main entrance and past the security post when Roxas saw at the very top of the right hand side building the company's logo; a large metallic blue heart with the words 'Kingdom Hearts' in a sharp font, right in the center of the heart, and above the m was a small little crown to complete the logo. Roxas's heart nearly stopped when he saw the logo; when he was thirteen he had always wanted to be a part of this record label. Back then, it seemed like an impossibility, an unattainable dream. Many had looked down on Roxas and his 'illusions of grandeur', but he didn't care. And now, eight years later, here he was, right in front of the company itself.

Their car stopped right in front of a pathway that led straight to the main revolving glass doors. "Okay you guys get off here." Terra said. "I have to go back to the airport and wait for Aqua and Snow."

The three band members got out of their black Cadillac Escalade and looked at Terra as he lowered his window. "I'll be back as soon as possible, in the meantime, make yourselves at home." He smiled at the three before the car drove off to the building's exit.

They turned around and faced the long pathway before them and came to a startling discovery; there was a crowd of girls sitting down on the pathway's end, where two security guards stood watch. Roxas noticed that almost every single woman in the crowd was holding either a poster or a large banner of some kind.

"Are they fans?" Sora asked, his voice dripping with skepticism.

"Looks like it." Riku answered, his eyebrows raised.

"Are they ours…?" Sora asked again, his eyes seemingly lighting up.

Roxas shook his head. "We haven't even been officially announced yet. How would we have any fans?"

"Besides Selphie, that is." Riku reminded them. "We need to give her fansite a look someday."

Sora let out a laugh and Roxas smiled fondly, he had almost for gotten about their first unofficial fansite. He made a mental note to take a look later…whenever they had time. As they approached the gaggle of girls, some of them stared at the three of them with disdainful looks and some other girls looked at them curiously. Roxas's eyes zoomed in on the posters and banners the girls had; these girls were fans of his own favorite band, The Organization. There were banners that had in bold handwriting the words 'I'm Axel's #1 fan!', 'Mrs. Flynn', 'Demyx is a sexy beast!' among others things of the sort. Some of the posters that the girls had Roxas himself had his own copies.

As the three guys reached the end of the pathway, they stopped right in front of two large, buff security guards. The one closest to Roxas was a broad-shouldered man that was at least about 6'3" tall. His hair was pitch black and braided into long dreadlocks. He kept most of his hair tied into place in a pony tail, but one dangled over the right side of his face. The man also had thick black side burns with equally thick eyebrows and violet-blue eyes.

He wore a dark slate grey guard uniform which is adorned with a curled heart symbol, and white gloves. The front of his jacket sports two rows of gold buttons, silver highlights, and a red and white heart like the one on his gloves. He also wears a belt and knee-high boots, both of which are black. A name tag on his left breast identified him as Dilan.

The man next to Dilan wore the exact same uniform, except this man was a few inches taller than Dilan was. He had very angular and strong features, with a square chin, straight nose, and sharp cheekbones. He has blue eyes and small eyebrows. His hair is auburn and slicked back into rather odd, messy spikes. Much like Dilan, this man also had a name tag, it was Aeleus.

"Um…" Roxas hesitated. "Excuse me, sir?"

Dilan looked down at him, raising a thick black eyebrow. Roxas suddenly wished that he was a little more taller; being 5'7" just wasn't good height for an almost-21year-old. "Um, could you please let us pass?"

The two guards looked at each other warily. Aeleus turned his attention forward, his eyes keeping track of the fans, but Roxas could tell that the man wanted to roll his eyes.

"I'm afraid we don't let any kid wander in." Dilan replied. His voice was deep, with a slight accent of some kind. "If you want to catch a glimpse of your favorite band, you'll have to wait out here like the rest of these girls."

Roxas was taken back; this man thought that they were fans? Admittedly Roxas was a fan of The Organization, but that wasn't the reason why they wanted to get inside the building.

"Err," Sora laughed nervously. "We-we're not here to see any celebrities."

"We're expected here." Riku said in a much more confident voice. "We're the new group signed to this company. We have a meeting with the president we'd rather not be late to."

_Note to self, have Riku do all the diplomatic talking from now on._

Aeleus chuckled as Dilan's eyebrows seemed to disappear into his hair line. "That's one I haven't heard, I must say."

Roxas narrowed his eyes at him. "We're not joking!"

Sora's eyebrows furrowed in disbelief, even Riku gave them a wary look. Roxas was becoming more frustrated by the second, why didn't Terra tell the guards that they were coming? This was certainly going to smear their chances of making a good impression on their first day.

"I suggest you three step away," Dilan said in a warning tone. "Unless you'd like to have your behinds in jail for trespassing."

The three musicians looked at each other momentarily before looking at the guards dubiously. They walked to the edge of the pathway, a bit away from the throng of fans, who chatted amongst themselves merrily. Roxas was fuming; he looked at Sora to see his cousin looking at the guards irritably and Riku looked incredibly vexed.

The sudden explosion of the fan girls' screams made them all jump instantly. The crowd all got up and ran to the other end of the pathway. Roxas turned and saw a black Honda CR-V SUV pulling up to the pathway as the guards ran forward, pulling out walkie-talkies and calling for backup. The three guys stood up and watched the entire spectacle with mild amusement as the crowd of fans screamed at the top of their lungs. Several more guards came running outside and kept the fans at bay as the SUV's sliding doors opened.

Roxas's jaw dropped as he saw the people who were walking out of the vehicle; Axel Flynn, Demyx O'Donohue, Zexion Corazza, Larxene Gray, and Marluxia Ferguson. The fans screamed even louder, something which seemed impossible, as the members of The Organization stepped away from their car. Axel and Demyx smiled at their fans, Marluxia gave them appreciating looks, Larxene looked rather annoyed and Zexion acknowledged them by nodding in their general direction. Axel, who was wearing a black skin-tight long-sleeved shirt and jeans smiled at his fans as he pulled out a silver sharpie and signed as many banners and posters he could. Demyx, who was wearing a navy blue hoodie long-sleeved shirt with side pockets and skinny jeans smiled as he posed for pictures with his fans. Marluxia, dressed in a violet-red shirt and black loose-fitting jeans, also signed posters and banners with a pleasant smile on his face. Larxene, wearing a leather jacket over a goldenrod shirt and ripped jeans took a few photos with the fans and signed a few posters without zest. Zexion, wearing a teal colored hoodie jacket and dark grey jeans signed a few things and also took pictures, all while being courteous to his fans. He then took off his sun glasses, causing the fans to squeal with newfound enthusiasm. At this, Axel shook his head, Demyx burst out in laughter, Larxene rolled her eyes and Marluxia smirked.

They continued to walk forward towards the building's entrance as their fangirls walked alongside them, the security guards attempting to keep them at away from the famous band. Roxas, Sora and Riku moved forward, closer to the main doors as the fans approached dangerously close to them, the Organization members were close to main doors. Roxas couldn't help but stare as his favorite band in the world came so close to him; under any other circumstance, he'd be one of the people in the crowd!

"What's this?" Sora's voice made him tear his eyes away from the scene before him. He saw that Sora was picking up a large piece of paper and by the looks of it, it had been previously folded several times.

Riku walked over to Sora and took a closer look at the paper in Sora's hands. "It looks like a poster taken from a magazine."

"It probably belongs to one of those girls." Roxas told him. Sora looked at the crowd in front of him; his face was almost drained of color. The brunette moved forward and looked at the girls closest to him and gulped. He opened his mouth to speak to a nearby girl with brown hair when the girls began to gather forward as Demyx approached them. Roxas and Riku tried to get to Sora, but the throng of fangirls blocked their way. Roxas attempted to move through the many girls, mindful to not bump into them. "Sora!" He called out.

"Roxas!" he heard Sora's voice coming from his side.

Just as he reached Sora the two turned to their left side and came face-to-face with all five members of the Organization. The red haired man looked at them as he passed by them and gave them a quick smirk, acknowledging their presence. Zexion looked at them and nodded courteously, Larxene gave them a scathing look, Marluxia simply nodded at them and Demyx beamed at them.

"Are you guys fans too?" He asked animatedly. "It's so awesome to see male fans!"

He looked down at the magazine poster in Sora's hands. The blond with a rocker mullet styled hair laughed as he took the poster from Sora's grip and signed it zealously before giving it back to Sora. The brunette took it and gave Demyx a toothy grin as Demyx put away his sharpie in his jeans and gave Sora two thumbs up.

"Demyx!" Larxene hissed. "Let's go!"

"See you guys!" Demyx said as he ran over to the other members as he was the last one to enter through the revolving doors. The large crowd's screams grew louder as the many girls began huddling into smaller groups once the band was out of sight.

Roxas turned to face Sora who blinked. "What just happened?" he asked absentmindedly.

"You got Demyx's autograph." Roxas chuckled.

Sora looked at the poster and frowned. "Yeah, but I'm not a fan like you." He handed the poster to Roxas who took it. It was the five members posing against a white wall, which was contrasted by their all black colored apparel. Roxas immediately recognized the picture as one from the booklet of their latest album, 'Nobodies'. Roxas rolled up the poster as Riku walked over to them and crossed his arms.

"I hope Terra gets here soon." He said irritably.

Dilan and Aeleus were back at their post, looking rather sweaty and harassed. Roxas almost considered walking past them and entering the building which was at least 2ft away from them. But again, he decided against it, it was better to avoid any type of trouble. They walked away from their spot when they noticed Dilan approaching them, his expression was threatening.

Roxas looked up to the clear glass windows and saw the Organization members walking across a pathway that connected the two buildings together. He could see Axel talking to a man about the same height as redhead, who had long blue hair and was wearing a suit. When the six people reached their destination, Roxas looked back down and exhaled. How much longer did they have to wait? Every single second that passed felt like an eternity, he was becoming increasingly tempted to just tackle his way past the guards.

"Roxas…" Sora's voice was drenched in caution, causing the blond to look at him. Sora was pointing at the direction of the revolving doors, to which Roxas turned to face. He saw a petite young woman with short raven hair walking towards them, smiling brightly. Her eyes were an oceanic blue, her lips were full and her cheeks had a pink shade. She looked so young, she couldn't be much older than 18, 19 tops. This new girl was wearing a long-sleeved purple dress with dark violet leggings and black knee-high heeled boots. She briefly spoke with the guards, who turned to face the three of them with some reluctance. The small statured girl walked over to them, and smiled gently at them. Roxas was suddenly reminded of Kairi…but despite the similarities, something told Roxas that this girl wasn't Kairi.

"Are you the Keyblade Wielders?" She asked in a soft voice.

_She's definitely not Kairi, otherwise she wouldn't have to ask. Their voices are rather different; Kairi sounds a lot more energetic than this._

"Yes we are." Roxas replied.

"Okay, please follow me." She said as she turned around and walked towards the revolving doors. The guys didn't need to be told twice; they walked past the guards who refused to make eye contact with the three of them. No doubt the two large me felt ashamed that they had denied entry to the company's new band. They stepped inside the cool building to see many workers walking about conversing amongst themselves. Various people were walking up the staircases, pathways, halls while either talking on their cell phones or holding file folders. But one thing that Roxas noticed that all these people had in common was holding cups of coffee.

The four of them started walking up a staircase when the dark haired young woman stopped in her tracks and turned to face them. "I forgot to introduce myself." She said apologetically. "My name is Xion Stoner."Roxas heard Sora make a noise that sounded between a snort and a violent sneeze.

"Bless you." Xion smiled.

Roxas looked over at Sora who suddenly looked rather guilty. Roxas shook his head and turned to face Xion and smiled at her. "I'm Roxas McCartney." He held out his hand for her to shake, which she did. Her eyes drifted over to Sora, who was standing right beside Roxas.

"I'm Sora Osment!" He said energetically. Xion giggled as she and Sora shook hands.

Her eyes landed on Riku, and her cheeks suddenly gained a brighter shade of pink. "And you are?"

Riku, who was standing right behind the two cousins, leaned forward and took her small hand in his large hand. "Riku Gallagher, it's nice to meet you."

Xion's cheeks were a bright scarlet shade by now, she and Riku separated their hands and smiled once again at the silverette. She turned around facing forward and continued walking up the stairs.

"Hey Xion?" Sora's voice seemed uncertain. Roxas was pretty sure of what Sora was gonna ask.

"Yes Sora?" she looked over her shoulder at the brunette.

"Um, by any chance are you and Kairi related?"

_Bingo. Oh Sora, you're so predictable!_

They reached the second floor and Xion fully turned to face Sora with a small smile on her face. "Actually, we are related."

"Really?" Roxas asked. _That certainly explains the similar facial features._

"Are you girls cousins?" Sora smiled broadly.

Xion opened her mouth to reply but quickly closed it when a tall man, a little taller than Riku, approached them. He had long blue hair down to his mid back, though he had several strands in the front, which reached to his upper torso. He had green eyes, pointed ears, but most noticeably, an x-shaped scar between his forehead and the bridge of his nose. His green eyes scanned them, as if he was analyzing them in every way.

"Xion," he said in an emotionless tone. "Is this the new group?"

"Y-yes, they are the Keyblade Wielders." She looked up at him in a nervous way. Roxas got the impression that this man was not someone you could or would talk to freely.

The tall bluenette's eyes landed on the three of them again. "I do believe that this new group was supposed to have four members."

Roxas clenched his fists, Sora shifted in his place and Riku looked away. "He's not here yet." Roxas said bitterly.

"Why isn't he?"

"The fourth member lives further away than they do." Xion explained. "He's on his way as we speak."

The man was unimpressed. "Humph. Take them to the Superior's office at once, he's waiting for them."

"Yes, Saïx." Xion nodded.

Saïx walked past them and disappeared from their sight when he turned on a corner. Xion let out a puff of air, causing her bangs to flutter.

"Wow, that guy is a jerk." Riku said.

"Seriously." Roxas agreed.

"Who is that guy anyway?" Sora asked.

"That's Saïx Thornton." She replied disdainfully. "He's the Organization's second in command."

"Second in command?" Sora echoed. "Is that some way of saying manager?"

Xion nodded. "Indeed, it was the Superior who came up with the title."

Sora made an 'O' gesture as Xion shook her head before she continued to walk down the hall. They walked up another staircase, which made Roxas wonder if these people had ever heard of a wonderful invention known as elevators. When they reached the third floor, Roxas saw an open lounge area with several couches, a coffee table and a TV in the middle. They walked past several closed doors until they stood in front of a large door with the number 1 in roman numerals, I. They entered the room and their eyes widened. The room was huge and circular shaped; the walls were white colored, there were several odd chairs that looked more like thrones in a circle, and each one varied in height. In the middle of the seats was a rectangular coffee table. There was a desk in the left side of the room, which was close to the room's entrance. On the opposite end was a wall full of shelves with many framed pictures there.

Roxas caught Sora's eye and knew that they were both curious and wanted to see the pictures. Xion walked to the middle of the room, next to the coffee table. "Have a seat." She said serenely.

Roxas and Sora sat next to each other, with Roxas closer to the wall with all the framed pictures on the shelves, while Riku sat opposite from Sora.

"Would you guys like to some coffee and donuts for breakfast?" Xion asked.

"YES!" Sora boomed. There was a burst of laughter from the other three, causing Sora to blush and grin sheepishly.

"That would greatly appreciated, Xion." Riku smiled at her gently.

"Okay then." Xion blushed. "I'll be right back."

Sora snickered, Riku was always polite when it came towards girls. Xion beamed at them and walked out of the room, closing the door behind her.

After a few seconds, it seemed that Xion had taken all of the good vibes with her, as the three of them looked around the room. Roxas realized how thick the air had become so suddenly, he felt rather nervous.

"Are you guys nervous?" Sora muttered. He was playing with the zipper on his jacket.

"Hardly." Riku said confidently.

"So it's just me, then?" Sora frowned.

"You shouldn't worry so much, Sora." Roxas said giving his cousin a pat on the shoulder.

_How can I even say that? I feel like my stomach is gonna drop…_

Roxas snapped out of his thoughts when he heard the door open. Xion walked in with a large pink box with a handful of napkins and four cups with lids on the top of the box. She walked in slowly and closed the door by giving it a light push with her foot. However, in doing so the tiny brunette lost her balance. Riku rushed to her side and caught her before she completely fell over. Roxas and Sora hastened to her side to see if she was okay; she seemed fine, but with a very dark blush on her face.

"Th-thank you, Riku." She mumbled shyly.

"No worries." He smiled at her, making her blush more noticeable.

Roxas took two hot coffee cups from her and handed them to Sora while he took the other two as Riku helped Xion straighten up. He took the pink box with the napkins and placed on the center of the table as Roxas and Sora placed down the cups next to the box. It had barely registered with Roxas that she had brought four cups rather than three.

"Will you be joining us, Xion?" he asked as he grabbed a cup of coffee and sat back down.

"Oh no," she said. "That's not for me."

"Who's it for?" Sora asked as he opened the box and took out a chocolate éclair and placed it on a napkin.

"It's for Snow." She answered.

Roxas was about to take a sip, Sora almost dropped the piece of pastry that he had in his mouth and Riku's eyes shot to the closed door.

"He's here?" the silverette asked. Roxas noticed that he had that strange look on his face again, the same one he had whenever Snow was mentioned.

"He just got here." Xion said brightly. "He went to the restroom, he'll be here in a sec."

As soon as she said that the door behind her opened and a familiar face walked in, causing the three guys to stand up. Terra looked rather vexed, like as if he had been told something he'd rather not know. He grinned at each guy, but it was easy to tell that it was rather forced. Behind him walked in a frail-looking blond with short hair. He was wearing an oversized t-shirt with a white and blue scarf around his neck, covering his upper torso. He had dark blue thin arm warmers, skinny jeans and black Chucks.

Snow smiled shyly at the three guys as he walked forward. Since Riku was the closest, he held out his hand to the short blond, who quickly took it.

"How's it going Snow?" the silverette smiled. "Are you feeling better?"

Snow cleared his throat. "Yeah, I feel much better now."

Roxas raised his eyebrows. Snow's voice was rather raspy, like a twelve year old boy going through puberty. How old was this guy anyway? 14?

Snow walked across to Sora, who raised his hand and gave Snow a high-five. "Ready to let the good times roll?" Sora grinned.

Snow grinned back. "I sure am!"

Sora clapped the small blond's shoulder as Snow made his way over to Roxas. The two blonds shook hands as Snow smiled at Roxas. "Hello Roxas."

"Hi." He replied slowly. "Ready to start singing?"

Snow looked a bit taken back and turned to face Terra, who was leaning against the wall. "Snow won't be singing any time soon." He said as he walked up to the two blonds.

Roxas frowned. "Why not? Isn't that why he was signed with us?"

"He has a severe throat infection." Terra explained. "That's why he didn't talk two days ago."

_Well that explains the prepubescent voice._

Roxas rolled his eyes. "So if he can't sing, then what's he gonna do?"

"I can play the piano, therefore a key board." Snow answered. "I can play the guitar as well."

Roxas wasn't entirely convinced, but he wasn't going to rain on Snow's parade. Plus, the poor guy was convalescing; his throat infection might last two or three weeks tops. Roxas pressed no further inquiries and simply smiled warmly at the smaller blond, who quickly beamed at him. Terra smiled at the two and went and sat down on the other seat next to Sora as he was stuffing a jelly-filled donut in his mouth.

Snow walked over to the empty seat beside Riku, the silverette grabbed a cup of coffee and handed it to the small blonde, giving Snow a gentle to smile which was quickly returned. Snow took his cup and took a tentative sip, recoiling once the hot liquid came in contact with his tongue. Riku smiled at him and gave Snow a napkin, before grabbing an apple turnover for himself. Roxas found Riku's behavior a bit strange. The silverette was a well-mannered guy and all, but this type of care was one that he only ever demonstrated around girls…

The sound of the door opening snapped Roxas out of his reverie. He saw a tall with amber-orange eyes and dark skin, his hair was long, reaching to about mid-back, silver in color, and some of it falls over his shoulders. His hairstyle looked a bit like Terra's, its layered, messy look and the spike on the top of his head looked identical. He was sharply dressed; wearing an expensive-looking suit consisting of a dark button up shirt, a black blazer over it, black slacks and incredibly polished black shoes.

Terra stood up from his seat and the two men shook hands. Roxas suddenly realized how much the two tall men looked alike, not just their hair or height, but their facial features, too. Terra turned to face the four musicians. "Guys, this is our company president, Xemnas St. Peter. Xemnas, these guys are Sora Osment, Roxas McCartney, Riku Gallagher, and Snow Martin AKA The Keyblade Wielders. "

"Greetings." Xemnas said in his deep resounding voice. Xemnas walked up to each of the members and shook hands with them. The last one was Roxas; the handshake felt different from any other, it gave Roxas a sense of apprehension. Xemna's amber-orange eyes bore into Roxas's sky blue orbs, as if Xemnas was peering into Roxas's soul. The taller man walked away and Roxas's eyes immediately found his cousin's own sky blue orbs. Sora looked rather uncomfortable, like he'd rather never shake hands with Xemnas ever again. He looked over at Riku, he looked rather uneasy. And the Roxas looked over at Snow, he had dread written all over his forehead.

"Please sit." Xemnas told them. They all sat down instantly, even Terra, although he looked more uninterested than apprehensive like the other four. Xemnas cleared his throat as he made his way to his desk, before turning to face them. "Welcome, Keyblade Wielders. I am pleased to see you all here in our premises. I apologize for all the trouble I've put you through with these contract terms." He then sat down on his very own throne-looking chair. "But you see, everything must be kept in absolute balance. Having already signed a band with three members previously, it was imperative that I continued a numerical scheme."

_Wow,_Roxas thought. _Terra wasn't kidding when he said Xemnas had a 'thing' for numbers._

Roxas picked up his coffee cup from the table and took a cautious sip, as the liquid was still too hot to take a full gulp from. He noticed that Sora, Riku and Snow all followed suit.

Xemnas continued as if the other four had not made a single movement. "As you know, our company is one of the biggest companies in the entertainment business. One of our most famous groups, Final Fantasy, recently disbanded due to unfortunate disagreements amongst the members." Xemnas said solemnly. "They were a four man band, and as I said, everything must be kept in balance. When Terra spoke highly of your musical and lyrical talents, I knew I had to sign you. Then I was informed that there were only three of you, regrettably. It was then that I asked Terra to tell you that we'd be willing to assist you in finding a fourth comrade. I was hopeful that you would accept the offer, and I was right."

_He's still going? Man, it's like he doesn't care if we're paying attention or not!_ Roxas looked over at his cousin; Sora was blankly staring at Xemnas's general direction, he looked like a student that had lost all interest during a dull lecture. Snow's eyebrows were furrowed, making the smaller blond looking befuddled. Whether it was from Xemnas's long speech or the fact that it was _still_ going, Roxas wasn't sure. Riku looked annoyed, his arms were crossed and his eyes were narrowing at Xemnas. Roxas looked over at Xion, she looked rather anxious, her ocean blue eyes constantly shifted from Xemnas to a large digital clock on Xemnas's desk. Terra's eyes were on Xemnas, but Terra wasn't paying attention at all. Either Terra was uninterested in what Xemnas had to say, or worse, he was used to Xemnas giving long speeches.

"…in the end everything worked out favorably." Xemnas said, completely unaware of the lack of attention from the six other people in his office. "And here you all are before me. I hope that your time with us will be most rewarding, not just financially, but in every aspect of your careers."

_Oh thank God,_ Roxas inwardly sighed._He's finally done talking._

"Now, let us introduce ourselves." Xemnas smiled devilishly.

_Oh crap…I wonder if I hit my head on the wall, would that look too obvious?_

"Tell me about yourselves. Let us begin with you Sora." Xemnas looked at the brunette intently.

Roxas gave his cousin's wild spikes a tug to snap him into attention. Sora briefly scowled at Roxas before looking at Xemnas. "Oh, um…"

"Um, excuse me?" a soft voice broke the awkwardness. They all turned to look at Xion who looked even more anxious. "I'm sorry to interrupt you sir, but unless the Keyblade Wielders leave now, they'll be late for their first photo shoot."

"P-photo shot?" Roxas's eyes widened in shock, he looked at Sora whose jaw dropped.

"Already?" Riku asked skeptically.

"But of course!" Xemnas said dramatically, making them Sora and Snow jump while Riku and Roxas stared at him bewilderedly. "In the next week you'll be interviewed by a writer for the Radiant Garden Times magazine. It'll be your very fist interview and you'll need pictures to go with the article."

"I-interview?" Snow squeaked in his raspy voice.

Xemnas rose from his 'throne' and walked in front of them. "Indeed. Now, we'll get to know each other at another time. For now, if you'll follow Ms. Stoner, she'll take you to see Ms. Panettiere."

Xion smiled as the four guys got up and walked over to her, Roxas noticed that Terra gave Xion a pointed look, before getting up and walking over to Xemnas's desk, as Sora closed the door behind him.

"Where are we going, Xion?" Snow asked. Snow was in front of all of them, Riku walking closely beside him, Xion was in the middle of the two and the two cousins at the back, close to the wall.

"We have to go to studio A…and soon." She said worriedly. "Follow me." She walked forward with the other four sauntering behind her. The five of them walked down two large halls and came to an area with large black doors that had metal plaques on them with writing on the plaques.

_Studio D…holy crap, they weren't kidding! I was hoping they were._

After passing several large doors they were right in front of studio A. The large double doors were completely wide open, giving them a full view inside. Their jaws dropped.

There were many people moving around the room, chattering indistinctively amongst themselves. Of to the sides were rack with different types of clothing on hangers, four racks to be precise. But the biggest thing was the center of the room. As they entered further Roxas couldn't take his eyes off the center; there was a large grey curtain right in front of several light posts, as well as a large fan. In the middle of the room was a slender woman with waist length red hair that was almost bigger than her entire body, large bright blue eyes, and full red lips. She was wearing a lilac skin-tight halter top with a purple bow on her chest, making it look like a bra and lastly, she wore green skinny jeans and a pair of lime colored flats. She was talking to another redhead, but this one looked awfully familiar, especially her darker tresses.

"Kairi!" Xion called.

At that, the darker redhead turned and smiled radiantly at them. Kairi had her hair picked up in a French braid, which was decorated with small crystallized flowers. She was wearing a one-shoulder aquamarine colored dress; with a black waist ribbon tied around her and gladiator heels. "Hey guys!" She beamed at them, waving enthusiastically. Sora's face completely light up upon seeing Kairi walking towards them. Kairi reached Riku first and she gave him a hug. "How are you?"

"Pretty good." He answered. "And you?"

"Peachy!" She laughed. She walked over to Sora and quickly gave him a hug and a kiss on the cheek. "Good to see you again Sora!"

Sora blushed. "It's great to see you too!" They smiled at each other before letting go and Kairi walked over to Roxas and gave the blond a hug.

"How's it going Roxas?" she smiled.

"Going great." He replied. He let her go as she walked over to Snow. Upon the two seeing each other, they hugged like they were the best of friends. Kairi kissed Snow's cheek before letting go of the smaller blond and turning to face the Xion and hugging the brunette tenderly.

The two really looked alike, if it weren't for their hair color, they would be identical. Although their physique also separated them, Kairi was much more developed than Xion was.

_Wow, I'm a pervert…nope, I'm just a guy._

"Are you guys ready for your very first shoot?" Kairi said ecstatically, clapping her hands together. When the four members all avoided eye contact with her, Kairi pouted and Xion giggled. "Oh come on guys! It'll be so much fun, I promise!"

"What do we have to do?" Snow asked in his raspy voice.

"Pose and look undeniably sexy!" Kairi winked. Snow looked aghast. "Okay okay, just pose and look good?"

Snow looked apprehensive and shook his head. "I don't think that that's humanly possible for me."

"Nonsense!" Kairi waved him. "You're working with me; I'll make you look drop-dead sexy, trust me."

Snow opened his mouth to protest when the other redhead walked over to them. "Are you guys ready?" she asked in a sweet, friendly voice.

Sora looked at her and shrugged. "I guess."

The taller red haired woman giggled. "Okay, just go into the changing rooms and change. Then come out to our 'stage' we have in the center."

The guys all looked a bit uncertain, but Riku shook it off and looked at the taller redhead. "Where are the changing rooms, Ms…?"

"Oh! I'm Ariel, Ariel Mermaid." She said brightly. "The rooms are on the left hand side of the room." She pointed to their direction and smiled. "Come see me when you're done, I'm the photographer for this shoot."

Ariel walked away and returned to her area where several cameras were clearly visible.

"Okay guys, follow me!" Kairi beamed as she walked over to the clothing rack on the left side of the room. Roxas saw that there were four separate clothing racks with different pairs of shoes on the bottom of the rack, on the top bar there were names on them. The one in the front had 'Sora' written on it, the one in the middle had 'Riku', next to Riku's was one with 'Snow' written on it and the one on the end had his name on it. She took Sora's hand, causing him to blush fiercely.

"Alrighty, Sora you take these…" She handed him a faded grey zip-up sleeveless sweater with a hoodie, a dark blue ¾ shirt, a pair of wash-faded jeans, and a pair of black Supra Vaider sneakers.

He took the items in his arms as Xion directed him in to the changing rooms. Kairi rummaged through Riku's clothes before selecting the right items. "These will look great on you, Riku." She handed him a pair of Osiris NYC83 sneakers, a dark yellow button up shirt, a pair of low rise jeans, a belt and lastly a fish net arm warmer. Riku took the items and walked over to Xion as she had joined them and led him to the changing rooms. She immediately blushed as he approached her.

"You're next Roxas!" Kairi grinned. She started looking through his clothing rack, completely skipping Snow's. After mulling over her choices she finally picked a black v-neck shirt, a thin red-and-black plaid shirt, black cargo pants, and black Converse with red laces. "Just follow in the direction Xion and Riku went." She said to him. As he walked over to the changing rooms, he heard Kairi conversing with Snow; the smaller blond's voice had a change. It wasn't nearly as raspy, but he couldn't hear much due to all the other chatter from the employees. Roxas walked to the end corridor where Xion stood against a wall and the two smiled at each other. "Go ahead and change." She said. "Meet us back there for hair and makeup, and don't worry about your clothes, just leave them here."

Roxas nodded, as he opened the door. He early crashed into Sora as he was entering the room, and Roxas's jaw dropped slightly. He had never seen Sora look so well dressed; his cousin grinned sheepishly at him and placed his arms over his head.

"Not bad, Sora." Roxas smiled. "You'll definitely get Kairi's attention."

"Really?" Sora beamed. "You really think so?"

"Definitely." Roxas nodded. He walked past his cousin and entered one of the changing stalls. There was a round little seat at the end of the cubicle, it reminded Roxas of a bean bag chair, but sturdier. He placed his borrowed clothing on top of the round seat and started undressing, when he heard one of the other stall doors open. That was most likely Riku, meaning Roxas had to hurry. He quickly put his clothes on and walked out of the stall. There was a large vanity mirror right in front of the stalls and Roxas had a good look at himself.

_Wow, no wonder Kairi is the stylist._ He smiled at his reflection and walked out as Snow was barely walking in. The two nearly crashed into each other, but Roxas grabbed the smaller boy's shoulders to steady him.

"So-sorry!" he squeaked, his cheeks lighting up. His voice had lost its raspy tone and sounded rather feminine. Roxas raised an eyebrow but decided to not comment on it, Snow did have a throat infection after all.

"It's fine." Roxas smiled. "Just hurry and change, okay?"

Snow nodded happily and walked over to a stall, closing the door behind him. Roxas walked out of the room to find Kairi untucking and rolling up the sleeves of Riku's shirt, exposing the silverette's navel. When Roxas looked at Riku from the front, he saw that Riku's shirt was unbuttoned down on the fourth button, exposing Riku's torso.

_Damn, Riku's gonna be the poster boy for sex appeal. I wonder what Sora, Snow and I will be._

He looked for Sora and found his cousin sitting on the other end of the room. He was in a chair right by several seats in front of well lighted mirrors. There was a woman putting on powder on his face while another was attempting to 'style' Sora's wild spikes.

"Roxas, go ahead and get to hair and makeup!" Kairi told him as she finished up with Riku's shirt. "You too, Riku."

The two of them walked over to the makeup area and sat down on empty chairs. It was barely a second after they sat down when two women approached them each. They immediately began working on them; Roxas closed his eyes and waited until they finished their job. A few minutes passed and the two women stopped what they were doing, one of them said "done!" and Roxas opened his eyes.

His hair looked the same, except it was much less messy and more redefined, as for the makeup, he could barely even tell he was wearing any. He looked over at Sora, his hair was also in the same style as before, but much more styled. He also didn't look like he had makeup on. Riku stood up from his seat as Roxas saw him. Riku's hair was a bit messier, his bangs were feathered out and he had some eyeliner on.

Roxas then noticed a small blond sitting on the chair next to Riku. He was wearing a teal-colored long sleeve shirt, a white scarf tied around his neck, dark blue skinny jeans and a pair of Harley-Davison Spectrum boots. Snow's short hair was also feathered out, and he had brown eyeliner on, making him look a bit less androgynous than normal. When the women had finished working on Snow, the small blond stood from his seat and walked over to the other three. The boots he was wearing certainly made him look taller, instead of reaching up to Roxas's chest he was right up to his face.

"Looking good you guys!" Kairi wolf whistled, eliciting laughter from the four members. She was standing next to Ariel, who was a professional looking camera in her hands. Kairi waved them over and the four of them walked to the middle of the 'stage'. Kairi beamed at them and walked over to them.

"Breathe." She said soothingly. "I know you're all nervous, but just take a deep breath and roll with it." She looked at them with a gentle expression. "This will be the first of many, many photo shoots. So let's have some fun!"

She walked back over to Ariel, and gave them two thumbs up. Roxas exhaled and tried to shake off his nervousness, something his friends also did. They all eyed each other and smiled at one another.

"Okay guys," Ariel said happily. "Big smiles, I wanna see big smiles. Like you're having the time of your lives!"

"Don't worry about posing!" Kairi said to them as Xion stood beside her. "Let it come to you naturally!"

"Just remember that this is your dream!" Xion beamed. "You're finally living it!"

With those words in their minds, the four new rising stars smiled broadly, arms swung around each other's shoulders. Sora stood next to Snow, Riku was on the other side of Snow, and Roxas was next to Riku. Music started playing loudly; it was upbeat and full of energy. Roxas couldn't remember a time when he had so much fun, not since he was a child. There were smiles and laughter all around, they posed seriously, they did silly poses. A chair was brought in and the four of them took turns sitting on it, getting various shots. At one point, some employees even brought in a trampoline!

Sora wasted no time on getting on the trampoline and jumping on it maniacally. This got the most laughs, as Ariel basically captured every one of his moves, before asking the other three to join the energetic brunette. After some initial hesitation, Riku managed to convince Snow to get on the trampoline. Roxas had never thought that a person would be so afraid of jumping, but here Snow was. The small blond jumped rather weakly at first, but after getting the biggest pep talk of the century from Sora, the tiny blond seemed to tap in to his inner child. Before long, he and Sora were the most energetic of the four. But Roxas and Riku would not be made to look like they were the 'emo' ones; they too joined in on the laughter and high jumps.

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><p>The photo shoot had ended a few hours ago, and still her legs ached. Naminé rested her head against the leather seat of their Cadillac Escalade. The four of them were on their way to what would be their new home. Apparently, all the bands signed with the company would live in their own multi-roomed house. She had at first been terrified of the idea of sharing a house with four other men, but when Terra had told them that they would sleep in separate rooms, her worry lessened. She was still uneasy about living in a house with them, but she figured if she was cautious, she would make it just fine.<p>

The car had stopped in front of a large intricate gate. After the gate opened and the car moved forward, Naminé slowly gained her senses. The car come to a stop in front of the most beautiful house she had ever seen. The four of them got out of the car and their jaws dropped.

_Is this…OUR home? No, surely it must be someone else's home!_

The soft lush grass surrounding the house reminded her of the lush fields of Serenity Meadows. Leading up to the house were several stone tiles in a zigzaging pattern, there were rose bushes on the sides of the house. The house was two stories tall and had a terrace on the second floor.

"Someone pinch me." She heard Sora say, his voice in was daze. "Ow!"

Riku snickered as Naminé turned to see that Roxas had been the one who pinched Sora. They walked towards the house as Riku pulled out the keys that Terra had given him earlier from his pocket. There was a certain level of anxiety amongst them as Riku swung the double doors open.

If they had found the house breathtaking on the outside, it paled in comparison to the inside. The interior was simply stunning; the rich wooden frames on the hallways made it feel like she was in a cottage in the woods, like in fairytales.

They stepped on the vinyl tiles with mosaic flowers on them, as Roxas closed the double doors behind him. Naminé had never, not even in her wildest dreams dreamed of living in such a home.

"Should we find our rooms?" Riku said. His voice was a lot more composed than what the others would have been. Naminé hoped that she could be like him, cool and reserved.

"But how will we know which room is for who?" Sora asked.

"Terra said it will be obvious." Roxas said. But he didn't sound so sure himself. "Whatever that meant."

They past the living room and entered the dining room, their dining table was unusual to say the least. There was a long rectangular table with four chairs on the left side, but there was a seating section on the right. Naminé was reminded of the seats at restaurants.

The kitchen was literally four steps away; it was as wide and spacious as the dining room. The kitchen had all of the needed appliances, a refrigerator, a stove, a microwave, a dishwasher, the works.

Sora walked past the door frame that led out of the kitchen and Naminé followed him. It led to an enormous living space with a large 40" LCD TV. It had a stereo with several speakers, and a Blue Ray player. Sora's expression was like a kid in candy land.

When Riku and Roxas caught up with them, their eyes widened and Roxas's jaw dropped. While the guys admired their new toys, Naminé noticed a hallway that led to a twelve-step stairs. She walked up the stairs and when she came to the landing she looked around and noticed several doors on either side of the hall. "Guys," she said in her fake, raspy voice. "I think I found our bedrooms!"

She heard thundering footsteps coming up to her. She didn't have to look behind her to know that it was all three of them. Before they reached her, she moved down to the left hand side of the hallway. When she got to the end, she saw a circular space with two doors opposing each other. She blinked when she saw a large picture of Sora next to one door, and an equally large picture of Riku on the other door.

"Hey you found my room!"

She nearly jumped at the sound of Sora's voice. She turned around and sighed, he gave her a sheepish grin.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." He said apologetically.

"It's okay…"she breathed. "I just wasn't expecting you at all."

"You'll get used to it." He smiled. "After all, we'll be living in this house for many years!"

Naminé felt guilty when he said that, but tried her best to hide it. Thankfully, at that moment Roxas and Riku appeared. "Our rooms are on the other side." Roxas told her.

Naminé smiled. "Oh goody."

The three guys raised their eyebrows when she said that. _Why are they looking at me like that? Was that something no guy would ever say?_

"Err, I mean awesome!" she laughed nervously, adding more rasp in her voice. She needed water, that last bit really made her throat ache. "I'm gonna get some water…"

She walked past them, down the stairs, past the living area and into the kitchen. She saw several glass cups on the glass of the wooden framed kitchen cabinets. She walked over to them and was surprised when she realized how out of reach they were. She stood on her tippy toes and stretched as far as she could; her finger tips barely touched the bottom of the frame. She stretched again and again, but to no avail, she was just too short.

She sighed in aggravation and jumped to garb the handle on the cabinet, only to end up smacking her fingers on the frame. "Ouch!"

"Need a hand?" said a deep, soothing voice. Naminé turned to see Riku standing in the doorway with a gentle smile on his face.

An inexplicable blush spread through her cheeks as she shook her head. "It's okay, I can get it."

"You sure?" he said softly.

"Yeah, but thank you." She smiled at him. She turned to face her opponent; the cabinet above her. She climbed on top of the marble counter and grinned triumphantly. With her knees firmly planted on the counter, she opened the cabinet door and took out a medium sized glass. She placed it on the counter and closed the cabinet door. She placed her palms on the counter and lowered her right leg first. But her feet hadn't even touched the ground when she started lowering her left leg, causing her to lose her balance, and her grip on the counter. She let out a frightened squeal and closed her eyes, waiting for the impact.

Instead what she felt was a hand grabbing her waist and another hand holding her right wrist. She felt her heart beating at a 100mph, and she opened her eyes and looked upward only to be greeted by a pair of emerald orbs. Her mind flashed back to the night of her brother's audition, when she had bumped into Riku for the very first time. He had caught her by grabbing her waist and grabbing her right wrist, exactly as he was right now. She prayed that he wouldn't connect the dots…

"You…" his voice was barely above a whisper. "You're…" Her eyes widened as the beating of her heart went into overdrive.

_Does he know? Does he know it's me?_

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><p><strong>There it is, chapter 5! I hope you liked it and the next chapter will be up in about two weeks!<strong>

**Reviews are love! See you next update! *hugs***


	6. Strange Behavior

**Hello again! I hope you'll enjoy this chapter, it's not as long as the others, but hopefully you'll like it!**

**I do not own Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy or Disney.**

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><p><strong>Strange Behavior<strong>

**Tuesday, May 19**

How did this happen? How was it possible that she been, once again, caught by Riku? Worst of all, Naminé was absolutely positive that he knew that she wasn't a guy. When she had slipped from the counter, he had caught her in the exact same way he had done so in the day of her brother's audition; on hand on her waist and the other on her right wrist.

She had made a promise to her brother, and she had failed him. She didn't even last 24 hours and she had already been caught. Riku knew, she was certain of it. He was quiet and hesitant; his thumb kept tracing the contours of her wrist, as if it were familiar to him.

"You're…" he whispered.

Naminé closed her eyes; her heart felt like it would leap out of her chest, her lungs were running out of air.

"You're…" he repeated quietly.

Here it was; the moment of truth, Riku would tell everyone and expose her. She squeezed her eyes shut, she could feel tears gathering in her eyes.

"You're quite clumsy, aren't you?" he chuckled.

Naminé opened her eyes. At that moment Riku helped her straighten up, offering her a gentle smile. She grabbed onto the kitchen counter behind her as if her life depended on it. Riku leaned over closer to her, and a panic rushed through her, causing her to close her eyes. She didn't know what she thought he was going to do; she was just expecting some type of reaction from the silverette.

When nothing happened, she opened her eyes and saw that Riku had grabbed the glass that she had left on the counter. Naminé watched as he walked over to the refrigerator and placed her glass between his bicep and his side as he opened the fridge's door. He took out a water bottle and uncapped it, then poured water in her glass. He turned to face her and kicked the fridge door closed.

"Here you go." He said, handing the glass of water to her as he drank from the bottle.

"Thank you…" She said quietly. Her hands shook as she raised the glass to her lips.

"No worries." He said kindly. "I better keep a close eye on you, though."

Naminé's eyes widened. "W-what?"

"Well, since you're so clumsy," he smiled warmly. "It'd be terrible if something serious were to happen to you and no one was around to help you."

Even if his intentions were good, she still felt apprehensive. _If he's around me at all times he'll find out my secret!_

But didn't he already know? Surely, a guy as intuitive as him would have put the pieces to the puzzle together, right?

"You don't have to do that." She said. She quickly covered her mouth with her free hand when she heard herself speak.

_I didn't use my guy voice!_ She panicked.

Riku, however didn't seem to notice her mistake as he kept on drinking his water. Naminé wondered why he hadn't said anything about what had just happened. Not only did she use her real voce, but when she had slipped from the counter earlier.

Did he really not notice? Did he really not realize anything? She thought about the audition night; she had bumped into him accidentally, he had caught her by grabbing her waist with one hand and her right wrist with another. It all happened so fast, it was only a few seconds. It was highly unlikely that Riku could make that connection on a short event that taken place over a week ago. She glanced over at the tall silverette who was much more interested in looking at the vine décor on the kitchen cabinets.

He took one last gulp as he finished the contents of his plastic bottle, and then turned to face her. "Is your throat feeling better?" He asked with a smile.

"Yeah." She replied in her raspy 'manly' voice. She inwardly sighed when Riku grinned at her and gave her shoulder a light tap.

"From now on," he said softly. "If you ever need to get something that you can't reach, you let me know, okay?"

"Yes sir!" she beamed, giving him a mock salute. Riku let out a laugh and Naminé cringed at her 'girly' habits.

"There you are!"

Riku and Naminé turned to the kitchen doorway to find the two cousins approaching them.

"So…" Sora said in a bored voice. "What do we do now?"

"We still have to unpack." Riku said.

"Lame!" Sora replied with a yawn. Roxas rolled his eyes at his cousin and Naminé suppressed a giggle. At that Naminé suddenly remembered that she hadn't seen her luggage since Terra had picked her up from the airport in the morning. She certainly hoped that her stuff hadn't been for gotten, there were several 'compromising' clothing articles in her suitcase. The panic was slowly sinking in through her entire body.

"Where did you find your belongings?" she asked Sora.

"Oh, they were inside my room." He lazily replied.

"Your stuff will be in your room," Roxas clarified. "And your room is across the hall from mine."

Naminé felt a wave of relief wash over her. _Goodbye panic!_

"Do you need help unpacking your stuff, Snow?" Sora smiled.

_Hello again panic._

"No!" she yelled in her girlish voice. She mentally kicked herself for letting her natural voice slip for the second time in that day in less than thirty minutes!

The three guys raised their eyebrows at her sudden outburst. Sora looked taken back. "Oh…sorry."

_Oh no, I offended him! And he's the nicest one!_

"It-it's nothing personal!" she rasped out nervously. "I just don't want to trouble you."

"Oh!" Sora shook his head, all while grinning. "But if I offered, it obviously doesn't bother me, don't you think?"

"Still…" she said, slight panic lacing her voice. "You have your own stuff to unpack."

"It's all good," Sora waved her off. "It's not something I really need to do right now, anyway!"

_No! I can't let him see my stuff! What do should I do? Think, Naminé, think!_

"You really do, Sora." Riku said suddenly. "You practically packed all of Destiny Islands with you."

"I did not!" Sora spat. "All I packed was my clothes, my shoes, and my video games!"

"The very games in which you can never win in?" Riku snickered.

Naminé looked at Riku. Had he purposely changed the subject to get Sora's attention away from her? That would certainly prove that he knew her secret. Or was he just having too much fun teasing Sora?

"WHAT?" Sora's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. "I NEVER lose!"

"Then what would you call the last Smash Brawl tournament we had?" Riku sneered.

"Luck!" Sora hissed.

"You're forgetting one thing," Roxas said, making the brunette and silverette face him. "You may have beaten Sora, Riku. But I won that tournament."

Sora's jaw dropped. "Again, luck! Nothing but pure dumb luck!"

Naminé placed her glass on the counter behind her and covered her mouth with both hands; she could barely contain her laughter. Riku caught her eye and grinned.

"Okay then," Riku faced the two cousins with a confident smirk. "How about we settle this once and for all?"

"You mean another tournament?" Roxas matched Riku's smirk.

"No, this one will be stock lives." Riku replied.

"You're on!" Sora boomed. "This one is the title match!"

"You in Roxas?" Riku grinned darkly.

Naminé got a strange vibe coming from the blond and silverette from the looks they gave one another.

"Hell yeah." Roxas said confidently. "Fair warning; you're gonna be sorry."

"Pfft, we'll see about that!" Sora punched his palm.

"Go get your Wii, Sora." Riku told him.

Naminé held back a giggle as Sora bolted out of the kitchen; they could hear him stampeding up the stairs.

"I'll go see how the TV works." Riku said as he walked out.

Naminé grabbed her glass from the counter behind her and walked over to the kitchen sink to rinse out her glass. She then placed the glass on the counter to let it dry. She was a bit startled when she turned around and saw that Roxas was still in the kitchen. She looked at him who was looking at her with a curious expression.

"Do you want to join us?" he asked her in low tone. "I feel bad that we got so carried away that we didn't even ask if you wanted to play."

Naminé smiled and shook her head. "No, it's okay." She rasped. "Besides, I've never played that game before. I wouldn't know what to do and drag you down from your fun."

Roxas raised his eyebrows. "You've never played Super Smash Bros. Brawl?"

"I've never played any video game." She said embarrassed.

"Wha…" Roxas chuckled. "Wow, don't ever let Sora hear you say that."

"Oh I won't!" Naminé laughed.

"Well," He said slowly. "If you'd like to learn, I can teach you how to play."

Naminé felt her cheeks warm up a bit. "Really?"

"Sure." Roxas smiled. "It's easy to play anyway."

Her blush only worsened when he smiled. "T-thank you."

"No problem." He said. "If you watch us play right now, you can get a good idea of the game play."

"Okay!" Naminé smiled happily.

She followed Roxas as he walked out to the living room as Riku was helping Sora plug a shiny, large white square box behind the stereo. Roxas walked to a couch and grabbed a strange rectangular shaped wand and pressed a button on the top.

He walked back to her and handed the wand over to her. "This is a Wii controller." He said quietly. He then pointed over to the shiny square box in the middle of the floor. "And that's a Wii."

"You play with these?" Naminé quietly rasped. The controller looked so odd, she wondered just how they would play.

"On most games, yes." He replied, still speaking quietly so Sora wouldn't hear them. The last thing Naminé wanted was to draw any kind of attention to herself. "But not on this game."

He turned looked over at the other two and Naminé saw that Riku was plugging in three deformed boomerang-shaped apparatus. "We'll be using those controllers instead, they're called GameCube controllers."

"Roxas we're ready!" Sora announced excitedly.

Naminé handed the Wii controller back to Roxas as he directed it in front of a thin black and gray seated above their TV. Naminé sat on the long reddish brown leather couch that was against the wall, and leaned against it.

Sora looked over at her as he sat down on the floor close to her feet. "You wanna play?"

Naminé shook her head. "Nah, I'll just watch you guys."

"You sure?" Sora asked as he grabbed an orange GameCube controller. When Naminé nodded he smiled a bit sadly but covered it with a hasty grin. "Make sure you take notes on how to win!"

"More like how not to." Roxas snickered. Sora stuck out his tongue at his cousin as Riku let out a small laugh.

Naminé looked over at Roxas; he was holding a silver controller and Riku had a black one. She grabbed a nearly couch pillow and placed it on her chest, then she brought her knees to her chest and she sighed. She watched as the screen went from white with a bunch of little boxes to a colorful screen. Music boomed from the stereo speakers; it was a majestic song in the ancient language, Latin.

She was completely mesmerized as she watched the different characters move about in amazing cutscenes. When the movie had ended, she watched at the guys selected their playing rules, their characters and then a stage.

Naminé had been pretty clueless about the game's purpose until saw each one of the guy's characters hitting each other senselessly. Her eyes widened when crates, barrels, and various other objects appeared and threw them at each other.

"Who turned on the item switch?" Riku's voice was dripped in annoyance.

"Um, that was me." Sora replied sheepishly. "I did it the last time I played. Didn't you notice right now when you were setting the rules?"

"No." Riku hissed.

"Ugh, this shit annoys me." Roxas muttered. "I'm turning it off."

"Go ahead." Riku said.

The screen changed again several times before it showed the characters they were using before resuming the fight. Naminé wondered how less violent the battle would be now that the crates, barrels, capsules and the other items were gone, she was pretty the violence would be toned down.

Oh she was wrong, she was absolutely wrong. It was as if the three of them had been fueled by a desire to annihilate one another.

Sora's character Pit, had spiky brown hair (much like his own), wore a white sash over his torso down to his left leg, a gold crown and a pair of angel wings. His weapon would change from two swords into one.

Roxas's character, Link, was dressed in a green tunic with a matching hat. He wielded a sword and a shield, but would occasionally throw bombs, use a bow-and-arrow, and a claw hook thing. For being a video game character, he was very handsome looking, he had dirty blond hair and piercing blue eyes.

_Just like Roxas…huh._

Riku's character, Ike, was rather buff looking, with blue hair and a blue tunic. He had a red cape and wielded a massive gold sword with both hands, unlike Link. He was a bit slow, but packed quite a punch.

Naminé watched as three of them savagely beat each other, not one of them showed any mercy. Even if the game was utterly violent, she was won over by it. She found it strange; they were playing such an insane game, but they were having fun. They laughed, they smiled, they even called each other rude names, but she knew it was all done in jest. Suddenly, Pit was thrown across the screen, no matter how hard he tried to get back to the arena.

"What the hell was that?" Sora said in mild shock, looking at Roxas.

"That was my awesome skills." Roxas said proudly. "Don't fuck with the Hero of Twilight!"

"Well don't fuck with Pit!" Sora snapped.

Their two characters began to fight fiercely against one another, completely ignoring Ike and therefore Riku. Link and Pit mercilessly pummeled each other; whenever Ike would get near them, he'd be sent flying across the screen.

Riku sighed in aggravation and turned to face Naminé. He was sitting on the seat next to her; he gave her a weak smile that told Naminé that such competition amongst the cousins was out of the norm. He leaned against the leather cushion and waited for the other two to finish their squabble.

It wasn't long before Link was sent flying to the back ground, screaming loudly and disappearing with a small 'ding'.

"What the hell?" Roxas hissed. "What was that?"

"My awesome skills, that's what!" Sora gloated.

Naminé let out a hearty laugh, it sounded like a mix between her normal voice and her 'manly' voice. When the three guys turned to look at her, she shyly covered her mouth, trying to contain her laughter. Roxas raised his eyebrows.

"Laugh at me, will you?" the blond said in mock anger, narrowing his eyes at her.

Naminé tried to control her growing laughter but failed miserably. She burst out in uncontrollable laughs, with Sora joining in.

"Okay, I see how it is." Roxas pursed his lips. "Watch closely, Snow. Keep your eyes on Link."

She watched as Link and Pit clashed violently once again. If they had been merciless before, they were right down murderous now. But in a few seconds afterward, Pit screamed loudly, disappearing to the side of the screen. Roxas punched the air as Sora groaned loudly.

"Aw man!" Sora pouted. "That was my last life!"

"Woo!" Roxas beamed. "Did you see that Snow?" he looked right into her eyes, and she felt her heart beat rate pick up quite radically. When he beamed at her, she felt her cheeks light up.

Sora sighed loudly. "That was so lame, when did I lose all my other lives?"

"Sorry, but I did give you a fair warning." Roxas said amicably. He turned back to look at Naminé. "Did you pay close attention?" he grinned.

"Yes sir!" she rasped and did a mock salute, hoping that he wouldn't notice the spreading blush on her cheeks.

"Good, if you play like that you'll always win, go it?" Roxas smiled gently.

_Dear heavens, why do his smiles affect me so much? This doesn't happen when Sora or Riku smile at me. I bet I look like I have a fever…_

"Show off." Riku said. He sounded angry for some reason, which clearly didn't go unnoticed by the two cousins either. Sora raised an eyebrow and Roxas frowned.

"Geez, don't take it up the ass." The blond snapped.

Riku said nothing and quickly threw Link out of the arena.

"What the…!" Roxas hissed. "I wasn't even paying attention!"

"Not my fault." Riku replied nonchalantly. "Maybe if you weren't so busy showing off…"

"I was just messing around!" Roxas yelled. "It's not like you don't do it!"

Riku said nothing and Ike continued to battle against Link. The atmosphere in the room changed considerably; from a fun free-for-all match, to a personal battle between the blond and the silverette.

Sora stood up from his spot and stretched while yawning loudly. Naminé could tell that he was trying to diffuse the tension, but neither of the other two paid him attention. Sora turned and looked at her; he looked half-irritated and half-resigned. Naminé was pretty sure that just how Sora and Roxas were competitive towards each other, so were Riku and Roxas. But there was a difference; with the two cousins, it was amicable. But with Riku and Roxas, it was rather hostile. Sora sat down on the other seat next to her and exhaled.

"Does this happen often?" she rasped quietly so that only he could hear.

"Those two fighting, you mean?" he raised an eyebrow at the other two. "Sadly yes. As competitive as the three of us can get, it's always worse with those two."

"But why?" she asked. "They seemed fine not long ago."

"I don't know." Sora said truthfully. "They just…manage to get on each other's nerves. And then this happens."

Naminé looked back at the other two. They just sat in silence; Link and Ike were locked in fierce combat. She then felt a gentle tap on her shoulder.

"In times like this, there's only one thing to do." Sora said seriously.

She tilted her head. "What's that?"

"You and I will go raid a grocery store for some snacks." Sora said with a toothy grin.

She blinked. "But I don't have a lot of money."

"It's okay," he smiled. "I have money, and with that we'll buy as much as we can."

"What should we get?" she rasped in excitement. Even something as mundane as going grocery shopping felt like going on adventure when Sora was around.

"Anything and everything!" he whispered ecstatically. "You in?"

" You bet!" she beamed.

"Then let's go!"

* * *

><p><em>What's his problem now? One minute it's all fun and games, and then the next, Riku gets angry and turns into a bitch.<em>

Normally Roxas could tell what he had done or said that would piss off Riku, but not this time. He didn't even talk to Riku and then he got all pissed off. Roxas was just kidding around when he told Snow that 'that's how you win' thing. Besides, it was just a video game!

There was no need for Riku to get so worked up to the point that when Roxas won, he demanded a rematch. They fought several matches and in each one Riku would lose, and then demand a rematch. Roxas was getting exasperated, Riku was a great brawler, but yet he kept losing his cool and would try to win only to dismally fail. It went on like that for a while, so much that Roxas had completely lost track of time.

They had finished the last battle, with Roxas once again being victorious. Riku had put his controller down and sat quietly while the game's music continued to play. Roxas got up and rolled up his silver controller and then turned the Wii off. After he turned off the TV as well, he saw that the silverette had gotten to his feet. The two glared at one another venomously before the tension was broken when Sora and Snow walked in, laden with plastic bags.

"You guys finally finished?" Sora asked, raising his eyebrows in a stern manner.

"Yeah." Riku replied. "We just finished."

"Just now?" Sora said incredulously. "Like right now?"

"Yeah why?" Roxas didn't know why both Sora and Snow had such looks on their faces.

"We were gone for an hour and a half." Snow rasped.

_An hour and a half? Wait…where did they go anyway?_

"Where did you two go?" Roxas asked. He focused on the plastic bags hanging on their arms. All he saw were bags of chips. Sora and Snow smiled at each other like two mischievous children.

"We raided Scrooge McDuck's food mart!" Sora beamed proudly. "Well as much as we could afford, anyway."

"Wow, I can't believe you two were gone that long, and I never noticed." Riku muttered.

"I see that." Sora said. He turned to face Snow with a small smile. "Let's go put this stuff away."

"Okay." The small blond rasped. The two walked back into the kitchen chattering away. Roxas glared at Riku one last time before heading into the kitchen himself.

"Need help?" Roxas asked Snow as he was putting away two boxes of cereal on a shelf of their walk-in pantry.

The smaller blond shook his head. "No, I'm good." He smiled. "But you can put away the milk."

"Where's the milk?" Roxas asked looking around.

"It's on the kitchen island." Snow replied as he took out two more cereal boxes from the plastic bag at his feet.

Roxas walked out of the pantry and found the bag with the two milk gallons on the kitchen island. Roxas looked over at the kitchen doorway and saw Sora talking with Riku. It was probably that Sora was asking Riku about why he had snapped earlier. Roxas looked away from the other two and simply put away the milk gallons inside the fridge. As soon as he closed the door, he turned and saw Snow walking out of the pantry and closing the pantry doors behind him.

"I think that's it." Snow said as he looked around, grabbing all of the plastic bags. "Sora had already put away the many bags of chips and sodas."

Roxas chuckled. "That sounds like him." He leaned against the island in the center of the kitchen and crossed his arms. He noticed that Snow covered his mouth as he yawned. Roxas stared at the smaller blond. He was so tiny; not just in height, but in his body frame. He really had feminine features, or as Riku put it, androgynous. If Snow put on a dress he could easily be mistaken for a girl. After Snow put away all the plastic bags in a drawer, he turned around and faced Roxas.

"What do we do now?" he asked as he placed his hands inside his jeans pocket.

"We still have to unpack." Roxas reminded him.

"Oh right." Snow nodded. "You said my stuff would be in my room, right?"

"Yeah, that's where I found my stuff." Roxas sighed. "Let's go upstairs."

"Okay." Snow smiled.

The two blonds walked out of the kitchen and into the living room. Roxas noticed that Sora and Riku were gone, they had probably had gone up to their rooms. Roxas walked up the stairs with Snow right behind him, when they reached the landing, Roxas heard Snow yawn loudly.

The yawn was rather high pitched, something like a girl's voice. Roxas raised an eyebrow at the smaller blond, who was completely unaware. Snow rubbed his eyes in a drowsy manner, before walking past Roxas and walking to the left hallway that led to Sora's and Riku's rooms.

"Wrong way, Snow." Roxas chuckled. He grabbed the smaller blond's thin shoulders and led him the right way. They walked to the end of the hallway and came to a circular room with two doors on opposite ends. The door on the left side had a large picture of Roxas and the right side door had a large picture of Snow. Both pictures were taken during the photo shoot earlier that day. Roxas let go of Snow's shoulders and walked in front of the tiny blond. Snow was blinking a bit slowly, his large blue eyes losing focus. Roxas smiled; looking at Snow in this state, the taller blond felt like he was looking at a child that needed to be looked after.

"Snow." Roxas said gently. "Snow, wake up."

Snow shook his head and tried to blink into focus. "Huh?"

"Your room is right over there." Roxas smiled and pointed to the room closest to them. _He really is like a little kid._

"Oh okay." Snow mumbled sleepily. He walked over to his room and momentarily fumbled with the doorknob. Roxas couldn't help but snicker, and then finally Snow opened the door to his room. He walked in and then turned around to face Roxas."Night Roxas."

"Night Snow." Roxas chuckled. The smaller blonde gave him a small smile before he closed the door. Roxas shook his head and walked into his new room.

It was huge! The room was bigger than their old apartment in its entirety. There was a king-sized bed right in the middle of the room. There was a desk and chair right across his bed. He also had his very own personal bathroom. Even though Roxas had seen his room earlier, he still couldn't believe that he would be sleeping in this very room for the next five years. And hopefully more years after that.

He ran to his bed and flopped on it tiredly. He unbuttoned his jeans and kicked them off hastily, then he took off his red t-shirt and kicked off his shoes. He sighed once he was just in his boxers and grabbed a pillow; he knew it wouldn't take too long before slumber would take him.

* * *

><p><strong>Wednesday, May 20<strong>

She had no idea what time it was, all she knew was that someone was knocking on her door. And rather persistently at that. She kicked off her blankets and yawned loudly, slowly stumbling out of her large and cozy bed. She walked over to her door, grabbed the doorknob when something suddenly clicked in her brain. She looked down at herself and her eyes widened. She was wearing a spaghetti strap and short blue shorts. Her breasts were complete noticeable, due to her small amount of cleavage.

Naminé gasped as she covered her chest and turned around. She spotted her dresser and ran over to it, opening a drawer. It was a good thing that she had forced herself to unpack last night, otherwise she would have made plenty of noise just getting a out large t-shirt. She grabbed one at random and quickly put it on. When she looked at the mirror of her dresser, she panicked. Her breasts were still noticeable, she might not be a DD, but she wasn't flat.

The knocking resumed again as Naminé looked around for her bonding wrap. It was on a chair by her desk, but there was no time to wrap it around her breasts. She gulped as she walked over to her door. She turned on the doorknob and slowly opened her door.

"Morning!"

Xion was standing on the other side with a bright smile. Naminé sighed in relief and let Xion inside her room. The raven haired girl was wearing a black long-sleeved shirt under and violet spaghetti strap dress. She was wearing black ankle boots with a purple bow on the left side of her head. Xion looked absolutely adorable, like a porcelain doll.

"Did you sleep well?" Xion hugged Naminé.

"Yeah, this bed is so comfy." The blonde smiled. When they broke apart, Naminé turned on the lights in her room. She then looked over at the clock on her bedside table and her eyes widened at the time.

It was 4:45am.

"Why are you here so early?" Naminé asked Xion who sat on the edge of Naminé's queen-sized bed.

"You guys have to be at the main offices by 5:30." Xion replied serenely.

"Why?" Naminé asked as she sat down next to the dark brunette.

"To record your very first single." Xion smiled excitedly.

Naminé's jaw dropped. "A-already? Isn't it too soon?"

"Hardly. You guys just have to record it, so that on Friday's press conference, it can play in the background." Xion laid on Naminé's bed, staring at the ceiling.

"What press conference?" Naminé's eyebrows furrowed. _No one mentioned a press conference yesterday._

"The one in which you guys will be officially announced!" Xion giggled.

"F-Friday?" Naminé felt her heart beat quicken. "That's only two days away!"

"Breathe, sweetie, breathe." Xion sat up and hugged the panicking blonde. "Don't stress, all you'll have to do is answer a few questions, if any."

" What do you mean 'if any'?" Naminé tilted her head.

"You have a throat infection, remember?" Xion said gently.

"Oh!" Naminé sighed. "Right, I can't talk much."

"Exactly, and if you do talk, just keep using your raspy voice." Xion let go of Naminé and stood up. "Now, go get ready so we can all go eat breakfast. Dress casually, and bring something to work out in; you'll be having your dance lesson today."

"Dance?" Naminé gasped. "But I can't dance."

"Don't worry, Aqua will show you how." Xion smiled reassuringly. "She is the lead choreographer and dance instructor for a reason, you know."

Xion bent over and gave Naminé another hug before she walked over to Naminé's door and slowly opened it. Naminé stood up and closed the door after Xion had walked out and then locked it. Naminé sighed and leaned against her door momentarily. She then walked over to her bathroom and turned the light on, and then looked at her reflection in the bathroom vanity. She removed her oversized shirt and sighed.

After she showered and got dressed, Naminé was in front of her dresser and finished combing her short hair. She had worn a wig the day she signed the contract, but after what happened to her brother… a decision had to be made. She would once again take her brother's place; she would once again become Snow Martin. Only this time she chose not to wear a wig, she decided to cut her own long tresses. As she brushed her hair, which barely reached her shoulders she felt a little sad. Mostly because there were still several hairs on the back that stood up like cowlicks.

She finished brushing her hair and took a good look at herself; she was wearing a dark grey long-sleeved shirt with an unbuttoned vest over the shirt, a pair of dark grey skinny jeans and navy blue Converse.

_Xion did say to dress casually. I think this looks okay._

She tilted her head and then looked over at her clock; it was 5:05am. She sighed and made her way to the door, picking up a small backpack with her workout clothes. As she was walking out, she saw Roxas walking out of his own room. He was wearing loose-fitting jeans, a black hoodie sweater and black Vans. When he turned around he looked rather tired, with bags under his eyes, and his hair was still damp from the looks of it.

"Morning." She said in her raspy voice.

He gave her a weak smile as his reply and then walked away, holding a small duffel bag in his right hand. Naminé raised her eyebrow and decided to follow him. When they got to the living room, she saw Riku standing by the kitchen doorway with a tired look. He looked up as she and Roxas walked to the center of the room and smiled at her. He was wearing a black long sleeve over a dark navy blue t-shirt, loose fitting jeans and black slip-on sneakers, a black backpack was right his feet. Naminé saw that Sora was lying across the leather couch, sleeping. His mouth was wide open and he was drooling, a yellow backpack was at the edge of the couch.

Roxas walked over to his cousin and kicked the sleeping brunette's lower back. It wasn't painful, as Sora simply opened his eyes and yawned loudly. He slowly sat up and rubbed his eyes, slowly blinking. The brunette was wearing a dark red shirt under his dark grey hoodie sweater and black and red striped shorts with big black shoes that had a white checkmark in the middle.

"I'm up, I'm up." Sora muttered drowsily.

"Where's Xion?" Naminé asked when she noticed the absence of the raven haired girl.

"She's using the bathroom." Riku replied. "There's one in by the parlor."

"We have a parlor?" Sora croaked.

"Yeah, it's by the entrance, it has a glass sliding door that leads to a patio." Riku said.

"Wow," Roxas said. "I wonder what other stuff we have in this house."

"There's another staircase that leads to the second floor." Riku told him. "There's another glass sliding door there that leads out to terrace."

Sora blinked. "The only way that this could get better is if we have a pool."

_Oh god, no. A pool would be the worst thing ever._

"We do." Riku said calmly. "It's in the back yard and it's huge."

Naminé felt her stomach drop, Sora's eyes widened in excitement, and Roxas raised his eyebrows.

"Sorry to keep you waiting." Xion said embarrassed as she walked towards them. Naminé noticed that she walked in from the far end of the living room. "Before we leave I have something for you all." She opened her black handbag and pulled out two small devices. "These are your new cell phones."

She gave Roxas one with a black-and-white checkered patter, Sora's was red with yellow, blue and black stripes. Riku's was black and blue with dark yellow borders, and Naminé's was white with bright yellow stars. Naminé loved it; it was absolutely gorgeous.

"Thanks Xion!" Sora beamed.

"You're welcome." Xion smiled. "Shall we go?"

* * *

><p>They arrived at the main offices around 6am, after stopping at a breakfast restaurant and nearly eating their entire weights in one sitting while exchanging numbers and texting each other. Roxas noticed that Riku helped Xion carry her plate to their table, he served her some orange juice from the pitcher and even served her ice cream. This didn't surprise Roxas; the tall silverette was always charming and polite around girls. But the thing that stood out to Roxas was that Riku showed as much care and gentility to Snow.<p>

Xion had told them to head to the third floor and enter Dance Hall #8, where Aqua would be waiting for them. The dark haired brunette told them to stop by the restrooms and change into their workout clothes. Snow had been rather reluctant to step inside the restroom and then suddenly ran inside and quickly picked a stall and locked himself in.

_He really is like a little kid, isn't he?_

Sora let out a laugh and Riku chuckled. When they had finished changing and they realized they were all wearing large t-shirts and baggy shorts, they all burst out in laughter. They walked down a long hallway until they came across Dance Hall #8. Riku opened the large door and the four of them stepped in. the room was bigger than their kitchen, dining room, and living room together. The wall on the opposite side was nothing but a large mirror and near the bottom was a bar that was at least up to Roxas's thighs. They placed their backpacks on the floor and waited for Aqua.

Aqua walked out of a door on the far corner and beamed at them. She was wearing black spandex-looking pants that reached to her calves, dark grey Aididas, a navy blue sports bra, completely exposing her toned abs and her navel.

_How on earth do the back-up dancers ever focus with her around?_

"Good morning guys!" she smiled at the four of them.

"Morning." They all replied in unison.

Aqua chuckled. "Not awake yet, huh?"

"No, we are awake." Riku replied. "It's just none of us are looking forward to…dancing."

"I am!" Sora said excitedly. "I love dancing!"

"Sora, you don't dance." Roxas said. "What you call dancing is really more like a baboon trying to scratch his backside."

Snow snorted loudly, Roxas looked at the smaller blond next to him. Snow quickly covered his mouth with his hands, but Roxas could tell that he was laughing behind his hands.

Aqua laughed. "What about you Roxas? Can you dance?"

"Oh yeah, I can totally dance." Roxas said in mock confidence. "Yeah no, I suck at dancing."

"I'm no good at it either." Snow rasped in an embarrassed tone.

"I have two left feet." Riku said simply.

"I don't care what you say Roxas," Sora said confidently. "I'm an awesome dancer."

Aqua raised her eyebrows in interest. "Okay then, show us what you got Sora!"

She walked over to a small boom box that was right in the center of the room and pressed the play button and a hip hop song came on. Riku and Roxas backed away from Sora, Riku grabbed Snow's arm and the three of them walked to the back of the room.

Sora began moving rather robotically before looking like he was having a seizure. Riku and Roxas roared out in laughter, Snow covered his mouth with his hands again but he was clearly shaking with laughter. Even Aqua couldn't hold back her laughter, but she tried to hide it behind her hand.

"Okay Sora," Aqua giggled. "I think I've seen everything now."

Sora stopped moving and smiled broadly at her. "I have awesome dancing skills, right?"

Aqua continued to giggle and shook her head. "Indeed you do. But within a few weeks, we'll hone your 'awesome dancing skills'."

Sora shrugged agreeably as the other three approached the front. For the next two hours the four of them tried simple moves while Aqua played different music genres. At around 8am, the doors opened and Terra walked in holding a small bouquet of yellow roses. He stopped dead in his tracks and laughed nervously when all eyes were on him.

"Err, hi guys." He said sheepishly.

"Aw, are those for me?" Sora asked in a high-pitched voice. "Why Terra, you shouldn't have!"

The room burst out in laughter as Terra walked up to them. "Oh yes, these are totally for you Sora."

The taller brunette walked to Aqua and kissed her full in the mouth, while Sora and Roxas wolf-whistled.

"Get a room!" Riku yelled with his hands over his mouth, giving his voice an echoing effect.

The couple finished their kiss and Terra handed Aqua the rose bouquet, causing her to blush. "Happy birthday, Blue."

"Thanks, Orange." Aqua replied.

"It's your b-day Aqua?" Sora grinned.

"No, Sora." Roxas replied sarcastically.

"Terra just felt like saying that for no reason." Riku added.

Sora rolled his eyes and Snow chuckled. Aqua blushed as she sniffed the roses and beamed at Terra. "I'm going to put these in my office." She walked to her office as Terra faced the other four.

"So…" Riku said slyly. "How long have you two been going out?"

Terra smiled. "Almost 5 years."

"Wow!" Sora and Snow said in unison.

"That long?" Roxas said. "And you haven't proposed yet?"

"Actually," Terra said proudly. "We're already engaged. The wedding will be in the winter."

"Congrats!" Sora beamed.

"Thanks." Terra chuckled. He looked over at the Aqua's office door and then checked his wrist watch. "I gotta get going, or I'll be late for a meeting."

"Aw, already?" Aqua said as she walked out of her office. The two hugged and kissed again before they parted.

"I'll pick you up at 7, okay?" Terra pecked Aqua's forehead and began to walk away. "See you guys later!"

"Later Terra!" the other four replied as he closed the main door behind him.

"Okay guys," Aqua sighed happily. "Where were we?"

The music resumed and the four of them continued to do simple moves, and about twenty minutes later, Aqua stopped playing music and clapped at them.

"Good job today guys!" she smiled at them. "Okay, that'll be all for today, so go ahead and hit the showers."

"Showers?" Sora repeated.

"There's showers here?" Riku asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Indeed there are." Aqua replied. "They're down the hall towards the end. You guys should head there right now, before the other dancers are done."

"Okay!" Sora smiled as he started walking out, Riku right behind him, grabbing both of their bags and hitting Sora in the back of the head with Sora's own.

Roxas noticed that Snow looked incredibly apprehensive. "Come on, Snow." He gave the frightened boy a friendly smile. Roxas turned around, grabbed his bag and began following his cousin when they heard something.

"Snow, one minute please." Aqua smiled at the tiny blond.

Snow eagerly walked over to the svelte bluenette as the three other guys walked away. They walked to the end of the hallway and came to two large wooden doors.

"These must be it." Riku said, swinging his bag over his shoulder. Sora opened the doors and the three stepped inside. The room looked exactly like any other shower room in high schools. It had lockers, a drinking fountain, toilet stalls and the showers weren't open; they were separate stalls. "We should hurry up." Riku said and the two cousins nodded.

* * *

><p>Naminé dried herself happily in absolute peace. She was absolutely lucky that Aqua had her own personal bathroom with a shower included as part of her office. She finished drying her body and quickly put on her casual clothes from earlier. As soon as she had put on her Converse, she heard a knock on the bathroom door.<p>

"Naminé, you need to hurry." Aqua told her. Naminé threw her towel inside her backpack carelessly, and attempted to comb her blonde hair with her fingers. She opened the door and found Aqua by the office door.

"Are you all set to go?" Aqua smiled and Naminé nodded. "Okay, you need to go to the fourth floor and go to studio A10 quickly."

"Okay." Naminé nodded and gave Aqua a hug. "Thank you so much."

"You're very welcome." Aqua smiled. "Now hurry!"

Naminé nodded and ran out of the office and then the dance room. She looked around the hallway and looked for a staircase. She finally found one a few steps away from her and she bolted up the stairs. She ran all the way down the hall until she came to her destination. She hastily opened the door and her eyebrows.

Sora, Riku and Roxas were sitting on wheelie office chairs, and a tall, voluptuous blonde was standing before them. She turned to face Naminé when the smaller blonde closed the door behind her. She had long, silvery blonde hair that reached to her lower back; she was wearing a flowered, skin-tight, green tube top with white arm warmers, cream colored denim leggings and beautiful white high-heeled boots with gold borders and gold flowers.

"Hi." Naminé rasped quietly.

"Welcome, Mr. Martin." The taller blonde smiled. "My name is Celes Chère, and I will be your vocal coach."

"It's nice to meet you, Miss Chère." Naminé said and shook hands with Celes.

"Please take a seat." She pointed to the large area before her.

Naminé looked over as Sora tapped an empty chair beside him. She walked over to the seat and smiled at the guys.

"As I was saying," Celes said. "There are different vocal ranges; Base, Tenor, Alto and Soprano."

Naminé wondered what her normal voice would be. But it didn't matter; she would never use her normal voice.

"Roxas," Celes said suddenly. "You're an Alto, correct?"

"Yeah." The blond replied.

"Riku, do you know your vocal range?" she looked at the silverette pointedly.

"I'm pretty sure that I'm a Tenor." Riku said thoughtfully.

"And you, Sora?"

"I…don't sing." Sora muttered.

Celes blinked. "I'm sure you do, but don't worry, you'll learn." She then turned to face Naminé and the petite blonde gulped. "As for you, Snow…I'm well aware of your throat infection, but you'll still participate in the vocal exercises. It'll certainly help your vocal chords strengthen; I'll let you off for today only."

Naminé nodded. She really had no choice in this; she would just pretend to be absolutely dismal at singing. She leaned against her seat as Celes continued to speak.

* * *

><p>About an hour after three of them had done several vocal exercises, the door opened and Kairi peeked in. her red hair was straight at the top, but the bottom was curly, she walked in and Roxas could see that she was wearing a dark orange strapless dress and magenta colored heels.<p>

"Sorry to interrupt, Celes." Kairi said apologetically. "But there is an urgent phone call."

"For me?" Celes asked. "Is it Locke?"

"It's not for you," Kairi said. She looked right at Snow with a worried look. "It's for Snow."

"Me?" Snow stood from his seat, a clear panic in his large cerulean eyes. "Whose is it from?"

"It's from your sister."

Snow gasped. "Where?"

"Follow me!" The two bolted out of the room, leaving the other four in the room completely bewildered.

Sora leaned over at Roxas and whispered, "Snow has a sister?"

"I guess." Roxas replied. _Of course we wouldn't know, none of us have even bothered to properly introduce ourselves._

"I hope everything is okay." Riku mumbled.

"I do too." Celes said worriedly. "Tell you what guys; go ahead and take a break for now. Come back at around 10am so we can get started on recording your first single.

"Okay, thanks Celes." Sora said politely.

The three guys walked out of the room and out into the main fourth floor hallway. Roxas couldn't see Snow anywhere; no doubt he was in an office somewhere. Roxas felt bad for the tiny blond; even though Roxas didn't know the details of the situation, he hoped that everything was alright.

"I'm gonna head downstairs and look for Snow." Roxas said to Sora and Riku.

"I'll wait up here just in case Snow comes back up here." Sora said, his brow furrowed in concern.

"I'll look for him too." Riku said. "I promised him that I'd look after him."

Riku walked off leaving the cousins behind. "Did he say what I just heard?" Sora said confusedly.

"You must have since I heard it too." Roxas replied looking right at his cousin. "Riku is acting really strange around Snow. He's attentive, overly polite, and very gentle towards Snow."

"You noticed it too?" Sora sighed. "I thought I was seeing things. He only acts like that around girls."

"Yeah, but no matter how much Snow looks like a girl, he isn't one." Roxas reminded him. "Unless…"

"Unless what?" Sora raised his eyebrow.

"Sora, you don't…" Roxas hesitated; he really didn't like putting labels on people. "You don't think that Riku is batting for the other side too…do you?"

"Huh?" Sora looked confused. "Batting?"

"You know…" Roxas insisted. "Maybe Riku swings both ways."

Sora still looked utterly confused. "What swing?"

Roxas sighed in aggravation. "What I mean is, maybe Riku likes both genders."

Sora's eyes widened. "Oh! I have no clue, maybe."

Roxas shook his head. "I'll go look for Snow. Text me if Snow comes up here."

He walked down the long hallway and then walked down the staircase to the third floor. Roxas looked around to see if he could find the tiny blond, but he didn't. Roxas pulled his cell out of his jeans and texted Snow, hoping the smaller blond would reply. He placed it inside his jeans when it vibrated; it was a message from Riku.

**Riku: I can't find Snow. Did you find him?**

Roxas raised his eyebrows and replied before putting away his phone. He walked over to the second floor stairs when his eyes spotted something.

Vanitas was walking up the first floor stairs. He was wearing a black skin-tight t-shirt, exposing his muscular arms. He was wearing form-hugging jeans and Harley-Davidson Sundown boots and sun glasses.

_What the hell is he doing here?_ Roxas's mind hissed.

When Vanitas reached the second floor, he walked down the hall way and was out of Roxas's line of sight.

_I better warn Sora._ Roxas pulled out his phone and texted his cousin. It wasn't even a second when Sora replied.

**Sora: Please tell me ur joking.**

**Roxas: wish I was, I saw him just now.**

**Sora: wtf is he here! I finally escaped him!**

**Roxas: no clue, but don't let it get to you.**

Roxas put away his phone and continued to walk down the hall way. As he turned around the corner, he nearly crashed right into Riku. "Whoa!"

"Sorry." Riku muttered. "No sign of Snow?"

_Wow, you'd think his girlfriend was the one missing, instead of a friend._

"Nope." Roxas replied. "The only person I saw was the devil."

Riku's eyes widened. "Vanitas? What is he doing here?"

Roxas shrugged. "Hell if I know. I already warned Sora, though."

"I bet he wasn't happy to hear that."

Roxas and Riku turned around to find Vanitas strutting towards them. He removed his sunglasses and stared right at the other two in a superior manner. "Long time no see, punks."

Roxas rolled his eyes. "What are you doing here Vanitas?"

"Is that how you greet family?" Vanitas sneered. "And I came all this way to see you, Roxy."

"Drop the act, Van." Roxas said seriously. "Why are you here?"

Vanitas smiled smugly. "I came to see my darling baby brother."

Roxas fumed. "Sure you are, and I'm the king of the world."

"Just answer the question, Vanitas." Riku hissed.

"I don't take orders from you, Gallagher." Vanitas said malevolently.

Riku balled up his fists and Roxas stepped in between them. Vanitas had a natural gift for pissing people off with little to no effort.

"Where's Sora?" Vanitas asked indifferently.

"In the recording studio." Roxas replied.

Vanitas snorted. "Oh by the way, I met that new member."

Roxas and Riku's eyes widened at that. "Where did you see him?" Roxas asked in a alarmed tone.

Vanitas raised his eyebrows. "'Him'?" he roared with laughter at that. "Are you that fucking stupid?"

Roxas furrowed his eyebrows at his older cousin. "What are you laughing about?"

"You're funny, Rox!" Vanitas laughed. "You're killing me. How you can you not tell?"

"Tell-what the fuck are you talking about?" Roxas snarled.

"He's just androgynous!" Riku hissed.

Vanitas's laughter died down a bit and he stared incredulously at Riku. "And here I thought you were smarter than that, Gallagher."

Riku looked more panicked than before, he kept mouthing like a fish out of water. Roxas had never seen the silverette looking like this, especially not in front of Vanitas.

Vanitas shook his head and smirked."It's so obvious that 'he' is really a 'she'."

* * *

><p><strong>Dun-dun-dun-duuuunnnnnnnnnnn! Err, sorry about that, I did say that this one wasn't too long. Anyways, please leave a review and let me know how I'm doing!<strong>


	7. Emotions and Honesty

**I finally got this up! Yay! We have another long one folks, and this is also complete from Roxas's perspective. You've been warned.**

**I do not own Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy or Disney.**

* * *

><p><strong>Emotions and Honesty<strong>

**Wednesday, May 20**

"Snow…a girl?" Roxas rolled his eyes. "Come off it, Van."

Vanitas raised his eyebrows. "Believe what you will, Roxas." He put on his sunglasses, hiding his yellow contacts. "I know a girl when I see one, unlike you."

Vanitas walked past the blond and silverette looking high-and-mighty, like he owned the place and heading towards the stairs leading to the first floor.

"Fucking idiot." Riku hissed. "I hate that guy."

Roxas and Riku didn't always see eye-to-eye, but they both could agree on one thing for sure: they couldn't stand Vanitas.

Riku turned to face Roxas. "If Vanitas saw Snow, then that must mean that he's somewhere on the first floor." The tall silverette really looked worried now; his brow was furrowed and his eyes were searching everywhere nearby.

"Maybe he's in an office somewhere." Roxas reasoned. "I highly doubt that such an important call would be taken out in public."

Riku seemed to agree and relaxed his shoulders. "You're right. We should probably head back to the studio."

Roxas nodded. "Right."

The tall silverette began to walk away towards the third floor staircase, while Roxas stood rooted in the same spot. Riku was really coming off as an over protective boyfriend towards Snow. It was true that Snow looked incredibly effeminate and sounded prepubescent, but that was because the poor boy had a throat infection. Roxas was sure that Snow would sound like a normal guy as soon as he got better from his malady.

_Besides, there are plenty more guys out there that are androgynous; it's not like Snow is the only one._

But Riku's behavior was odd, could he be turning bi?

_Maybe Riku thinks of Snow as a little brother or something. Guy s can be friends without being gay._

Roxas felt his phone vibrating in his pocket and pulled it out to see his text message.

**Snow: I'm sorry to have worried you. I'll be in the studio in a bit.**

Roxas sighed in relief.

**Roxas: I'm currently in the second floor. Where are you?**

Roxas almost put away his phone out of habit, but quickly recovered. He waited for a few moments for Snow to reply, but when no reply came he put his phone away. He turned around to walk down to the first floor staircase when he saw a familiar figure walking up said stairs.

"Snow…?" Roxas approached the small blond. Snow's head was bowed, with his hands clasped together firmly in front of him as he walked slowly. "Snow?"

Snow's head slowly rose to look at Roxas; his large cerulean blue orbs were red and puffy. Roxas knew that Snow had been crying.

"Are you okay?" Roxas asked softly, taking a few steps towards the diminutive blond.

"I'm fine." Snow croaked. A fresh pair of tears streamed down his rosy cheeks and he hastily wiped them away.

Roxas felt horrible; he didn't know what to do or say to comfort the tiny blond. "Look," he said softly. "I don't know the details, but I hope that your sister is doing well." He smiled gently at Snow, but his words seemed to have affected the petite blond, for he started to shake and looked downward.

"Snow?" Roxas walked closer to Snow and placed a hand on Snow's slim shoulder. Snow looked up and Roxas saw that more fresh tears were spilling down his face.

_Did something happen to his sister? Is that way he's so upset? What should I do? I don't know what's going on, but…poor guy._

Snow hid his face behind his hands to hide his tears, clearly ashamed of being seen in such a state.

Suddenly, Roxas's feet moved of their own accord; taking another step forward, Roxas wrapped his arms around the minute blond and placed a hand on Snow's soft blond hair.

"Everything will be okay…" Roxas said soothingly.

Snow let out a small sob. "…my s-sister…"

"What happened to her?" Roxas asked gently. "Is she okay?"

"…she's…" Snow hiccupped. "She's…"

Roxas phone went off with a loud vibration echoing in the hallway, causing the two blonds to break away. Snow quickly dried off his cheeks while Roxas checked his phone.

**Sora: where r u? have u found him?**

**Roxas: I'm in the second floor with Snow.**

Roxas looked over at the other blond; he was trying to breathe normally and calmly.

**Sora: u found him? great! :D**

**Roxas: Lol, we'll be up there in a sec!**

**Sora: kay! 8D**

Roxas chuckled and put his phone away in his pocket. He looked up at Snow and was relieved to see that Snow was looking at him with a small smile on the tiny blond's face.

"Ready to head back to the studio?" Roxas asked earnestly.

"Yes!" Snow replied with zest.

Roxas smiled at Snow and Snow beamed at him. Roxas nudged his head to the side, indicating the forward motion. They both turned around and walked towards the third floor stairs, the vibe from Snow was much calmer than previously. They reached the third floor landing and Roxas looked around for the fourth floor staircase; it was located towards the end of the hallway, close to Aqua's dance room.

"My sister…" Snow said suddenly.

Roxas looked at the blond beside him. "Is she okay?"

"She…" Snow sighed heavily. "She had an accident three days ago."

"That's terrible." Roxas said honestly. "What happened?"

"She fell down a staircase." Snow replied sadly.

Roxas's eyes widened and his jaw dropped. "Poor girl…did she injure herself seriously?"

_Roxas, are you stupid? Of course she injured herself seriously, she fell down a staircase, you idiot!_

"She has a hip fracture." Snow said somberly. "She's still in the hospital; the call was to tell me that she is awake now and that…" his voice began to break, making him sound feminine. "Sh-she wanted t-to talk to me…"

"So you were crying because she's doing better…" Roxas said quietly.

"Yes." Snow sniffled. "They were my tears of joy. I'm so happy that he-uh, _she_is doing better, but..."

"Her injuries will require a lot of time to heal." Roxas said solemnly.

Snow nodded. "She'll need surgery and physical therapy…she's the only family I have left…"

Roxas placed a comforting hand on Snow's left shoulder. "She'll get better as time passes, you'll see."

Snow smiled. "Thank you, Roxas."

Roxas was about to reply when unexpectedly Snow hugged him. Roxas was taken back; a few moments ago he had given the smaller blond a hug. But for some reason, this hug was different; a warm sensation spread over Roxas, like when the first rays of the sun hits his skin in the early morning.

Before Roxas could return the hug, Snow pulled away. His face was beet red and he looked rather embarrassed.

"Sorry," he said quickly. "I shouldn't have done that."

Roxas shook his head. "I-it's okay." He tired to give Snow a reassuring smile, but he wasn't sure if it looked genuine. "Let's get going."

Snow nodded and eagerly walked ahead of Roxas.

When they were in front of studio A10's door, Roxas looked at Snow from his peripheral vision. The smaller blond took a deep breath and exhaled loudly before opening the door. The two blonds entered the room and found Sora merrily spinning around in his office chair while Riku sat in his chair with his arms crossed and his gaze fixed on the carpeted floor.

At the sound of the door closing, the tall silverette looked up and his eyes focused on Snow as the tiny blond walked forward. Riku quickly stood up from his seat and practically ran to Snow, taking the small blond in his arms.

"Are you okay?" He asked worriedly.

"I'm fine." Snow replied happily; his head barely reached Riku's torso.

Riku smiled at Snow. "If you need anything, I'm here for you. Okay?"

Snow nodded as Riku slowly let him go. "Okay."

The silverette ruffled Snow's short hair as Sora dizzily approached them. "Snow, do you have a twin brother?"

Snow's expression changed dramatically. "What? Why do you say that?" he rasped in a panicked tone.

Sora placed a hand on Riku's shoulder to steady himself as his eyes focused. "Because I'm seeing two of you."

Roxas rolled his eyes as he laughed. "You're such a dork, Sora."

"No, seriously!" Sora insisted. "I'm see two of him!"

Snow shook with laughter. "Indeed, I do have a twin. His name is Snow."

The four of them doubled over in laughter; it was a welcomed feeling after the serious news of Snow's sister.

Riku lightly hit Sora in the back of the head. "Only you Sora, only you."

Roxas shook his head at his cousin before turning to face Riku. "Where's Celes?"

Riku raised an eyebrow. "You know, now that you mentioned it, we haven't seen her since earlier."

"Didn't she say to come back around 10am?" Sora piped up.

"Oh yeah…" Roxas replied. He pulled out his cell phone and checked out the time; it was 9:18AM. "It's not ten yet, so…."

"What should we do?" Snow asked quietly.

Sora placed his index finger on his chin thoughtfully. "How about we go exploring?"

Roxas raised his eyebrows. "'Exploring'? Around the building, you mean?"

"Yeah!" Sora smiled enthusiastically. "That way we'll get more acquainted with the place!"

"It's not a bad idea." Riku seriously said. "We could certainly benefit from getting familiar with the layout."

"So we all agree, then?" Sora beamed. "AWESOME!"

Snow laughed. "Shall we get going?"

Sora walked next to Snow and looped his arm around the petite blond. "We shall!"

The four of them walked out to the studios hallway and looked around to see where to go. Roxas looked over at the left side of the hallway and saw a long pathway leading to the other building. Roxas had nearly forgotten that the premises were composed of two four-story buildings.

"Hey guys…" Roxas said. "How about we go to the other building?"

"What other building?" Riku asked. He looked over at the long walkway and Roxas was glad that he wasn't the only one who forgot about the second building.

"Dude, we should totally go that way!" Sora said energetically. He and Snow walked merrily in front or Roxas and Riku. "Um…Snow?"

"Yes?" Snow rasped quietly.

"Is your sister okay?" Sora smiled gently.

Snow nodded. "Yeah, she's fine."

"That's great!" Sora beamed. "I'm glad she doing fine, you looked so panicked."

"Thank you for your concern, Sora." Snow said peacefully.

"Of course!" Sora zestfully replied. "That's what friends are for!"

Even though Roxas couldn't see the smaller blond's face, something inside told Roxas that Snow had a smile of his effeminate face. The four of them walked in silence down the long hallway; Roxas looked over at the glass windows and watched the cars zooming along the nearest freeway. The taller blond looked back at his cousin and the smaller blond; their arms were no longer looped together, instead they were walking side-by-side merrily. Well, at least Sora was. Roxas looked over at Riku; the silverette's eyes were glued to the back of Snow's head. Riku had a soft smile on his face, very tender…almost an amorous like.

_Okay, maybe Riku really thinks of Snow as a little brother…just because he has a really uh, loving look on his face doesn't mean that Riku has romantic feelings for Snow._

They finally reached the end of the pathway and found themselves in front of two large doors with a silver plaque that said _Cafeteria_.

"Awesome! A cafeteria!" Sora said enthusiastically. He ran to the one of the large doors and pushed it open as the other three entered the room. It was a big as the lobby; hell, it was bigger than their house! Roxas looked over at the seating area; there were medium-sized round dining tables with four chairs for each table. There was a salad bar, a large meal option table with kitchen workers serving the food from meal pots and platters. Past the meal table was a large dessert; it had a three tier cake stand with smaller cake samplings, three glass containers of gelatin, fruit trays, and a small portable freezer, no doubt it was for ice cream.

"Look over there!" Snow said suddenly. He was pointing at a table close to the dessert table, where a familiar redhead and raven haired girls sat eating.

"Kairi!" Sora beamed.

"Don't forget Xion, too." Riku said.

The four of them walked over to the two girls, Kairi looked up as the band members approached them. Her ocean blue eyes widened and she nearly choked on her orange slice.

"Easy Kairi." Xion smiled, before turning to face the other four. "Hi guys."

"Hey girls." Sora smiled, quickly taking a seat next to Kairi as she finished her orange. "So Kairi, what's on the agenda today?" he asked in a slightly deeper voice.

Roxas found it hilarious that Sora was trying to chat up to Kairi, as far as he was concerned his cousin was far from the Casanova type. Roxas took the empty seat close to Xion, before he noticed that neither Riku nor Snow had a place to sit. He looked at the empty table next to them and stood up to pull a out for Snow.

When Roxas turned around to face Snow, he found that Snow was already seated next to Sora. It didn't take long for the tall blond to figure out who had pulled out the chair for the tiny blond. Roxas was tempted to say something but decided against it.

"Here Riku." Roxas said, offering the chair to the silverette.

"Thanks." Riku replied, sitting right between Snow and Roxas.

"Well," Kairi replied to Sora. "I'm not sure if you know, but you won't be recording your debut single today."

"What?" Roxas turned to face her.

Kairi bit her lower lip. "See, the thing is that Xemnas wanted you guys to sing one of the songs written by our lyricist."

"I thought we were recording our own song." Sora frowned.

"I was getting to that." Kairi smiled. "Terra wants you guys to do your own song; he wants you guys to debut with your own talents."

"So…?" Sora said slowly, taking a orange slice from Kairi's plate.

"They're currently in a meeting discussing the issue." Xion replied.

"That must be that meeting Terra mentioned earlier in Aqua's dance room." Riku said.

"Mm-hmm." Kairi said grabbing another orange slice.

"Um…" said a raspy voice. "Where are the drinks?"

"Oh, the drinks are by the dessert table." Kairi said. She pointed at the area in question. Snow nodded as he stood up and began to walk away.

From his peripheral vision, Roxas looked at Riku and wondered how long it would take for the silverette to find a way to accompany Snow.

_Three, two, one…_

"I'm gonna get a drink, too." Riku said as he rose from his seat.

Roxas rolled his eyes and quickly glanced at his cousin; the two of them shared a knowing look. Neither Kairi nor Xion took notice, instead the Xion pulled out her cell phone from her purse.

Xion groaned and shook her head. "Stupid Axel."

"What did he send you now?" Kairi giggled.

"Wait, Axel?" Roxas looked right at Xion. "As in Axel Flynn?"

"One and only, sadly." Xion muttered as she rapidly texted back. "He sent me a picture of a Photoshopped cat with lotus seeds on its face."

Kairi shuddered. "Oh poor kitty! If I see Axel, I'm gonna smack him."

"Please do." Xion replied as she put her phone on the table. She took off a piece of her muffin and chewed it with a disgusted look at her cell.

"Does Axel normally do stuff like that?" Roxas asked. It felt awesome to hear a realistic side of his favorite singer.

"Always." Xion replied. "He sends me enough chain letters to last me a lifetime."

"Does he send them to you too, Kairi?" Sora asked.

"Sometimes." She made a face when she answered. "But he knows not to send me creepy pictures like he sends Xion."

"Why?" Roxas asked.

"Because he knows I'll kick his ass." Kairi replied proudly.

Roxas raised a skeptical eyebrow while Sora looked rather impressed. Xion shook her head at Kairi before looking over at the approaching silverette and small blond, who were carrying two drinks each.

"So we're going to do an original song, right?" Everyone turned to face Snow, who blushed lightly when all eyes were on him. He set his drink on the table before he handed Roxas a drink, while Riku gave Sora his own drink before sitting between the two blonds. Roxas looked at his drink and took a sip; it was raspberry iced tea, his favorite.

"Thanks Snow." Roxas smiled, causing the tiny blond's blush to worsen.

"If we're recording you guys' original song…" Snow hesitated. "What part will I have?"

"Hmm, you do you have a point…" Roxas mumbled.

_He can't sing, so what can he do...wait, didn't he say he can play guitars?_

"Snow," Roxas said. "What kind of guitar can you play?"

"Acoustic." Snow replied.

"Can you play a rhythm guitar?" Roxas asked.

"I've never heard of it." Snow replied honestly.

Roxas sighed. "All you can do is play an acoustic?"

"Yes, I'm afraid that's all I know." Snow looked downward.

"Don't worry," Riku said suddenly. "I can teach you how to play a rhythm guitar."

Roxas raised his eyebrows. "In one day? You know we have to record the song by tomorrow, right?"

Riku turned to face Roxas. "I know."

Roxas shrugged. "Okay man, if you say so."

"What? You don't think I can teach him?" Riku snapped.

_Oh god, don't start again._

"I'm not saying that you aren't a competent teacher," Roxas said. "I'm saying that he needs to learn it by tomorrow, and we're pressed for timing."

"He'll know it by tomorrow." Riku said reassuringly.

Roxas didn't say more, he really didn't want to argue with Riku in front of Kairi and Xion.

"Wait," Sora said as he swallowed one of Kairi's orange slices. "What song are we doing anyway?"

"Terra wants you guys to sing that song from your audition." Xion replied as she grabbed her iced tea.

"Ohh…!" Sora said.

Kairi turned to face Sora. "What's the song called?"

"It's called 'Disguise'." The brunette replied proudly.

"What's the song about?" Snow rasped. He was looking right at Roxas.

"It's about an addictive love." Roxas said. "About how the girl teased the guy so much, thinking it was a passing fling."

"The relationship itself starts out that way." Sora said with another orange slice in his mouth. Roxas noticed that at this point Kairi was playfully narrowing her eyes at Sora. "But after a while, he genuinely falls for her."

"It's not so much that he falls in love with her as he becomes 'addicted' to her." Riku said as he leaned against his chair.

"Wait, so shouldn't the song be called 'Addicted', then?" Kairi looked at Riku.

"It's called 'Disguise' because of the chorus line." Roxas answered. "At this point the guy says that he's become so addicted to her, that even if she wore a disguise, he'd still recognize her."

"Oh wow." Xion said with raised eyebrows. "So he becomes obsessed with the girl."

"Pretty much." Sora replied. "He says that wherever she goes, he'll find her somehow."

"It's to the point where he says that she can dress up as a man and he'd still recognize her." Roxas said.

There was a sudden spluttering noise and Roxas looked over to see Snow choking over his drink. Roxas was about to stand up, but Riku immediately began to gently pat Snow's back. The cousins shared a look again as they watched the silverette care for Snow.

"Are you okay?" Xion asked as she handed Snow a napkin.

"I'm fine." He rasped, wiping his face with the napkin. "I breathed at the wrong time."

Kairi chuckled awkwardly. "Be careful…"

Snow nodded gravely before turning to face Riku. "Thanks."

"You're welcome." Riku replied softly. "Take it easy, okay?"

Snow smiled and then turned to face Roxas again. "What was the inspiration for the song?"

"I don't even know." Roxas hummed. "It just popped in my head one day."

"Oh…" Snow said. He looked down at his hands before quietly saying. "I can't wait to hear the song."

Riku ruffled Snow's short blond hair. "You'll hear later on, when I teach you to play it."

Roxas stared. _Okay, I really think Riku has a thing for Snow. I'm pretty sure you don't act like that to a little brother._

Roxas looked over at Xion. "Do they serve ice cream here?"

"Yeah," she replied. "I was gonna go get some myself, come on."

They both stood up and started walking away from their table when Roxas heard Sora yell, "Bring me some!"

Roxas turned to face his cousin. "Go get it yourself!" He turned to face Xion and noticed that she was laughing.

"You guys are funny." She smiled.

"I'm glad you think so," Roxas replied. "You should see us playing video games."

"Oh, I can just imagine the two of you…" Xion chuckled.

They neared the dessert table Roxas wondered just what flavors the staff served. "What kind of flavors do they have?"

"Oh the usual; chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, mango…" Xion said off-handedly.

"Oh." Roxas frowned. "They should have sea salt ice cream."

Xion was about to open the mini freezer, but stopped and looked at Roxas. "You like sea salt ice cream?"

"Hell yeah, it's my favorite!" Roxas grinned toothily.

"Oh awesome!" Xion smiled. "It's my favorite too!"

"Really? Not a lot of people like it, you know." Roxas said. "When did you first try it?"

"Last year, when I first started working here." Xion replied fondly. "Axel was eating a bar and asked I wanted to try one."

Roxas eyes widened slightly as Xion opened the mini freezer. "Wait, Axel likes sea salt ice cream?"

"Oh good god, does he ever." Xion stressed. "He's totally addicted to it…he's the one that got me into it." She grabbed two small lidded plastic cups with small plastic spoons on the lid and handed one to Roxas.

He quickly removed the lid and took a spoonful; he sighed contentedly when the salty flavor melted in his tongue, leaving a sweet after taste. He had thought it many times before and he continued to do so; he could live off this delicious frozen delicacy.

"When did you first try it?" Xion asked as she scooped up some ice cream.

"When Sora and I were eighteen," he said before enjoying another spoonful. "Our parents took us to Twilight Town for summer vacation as our graduation gift. I had my very first bar in an ice cream parlor there."

Xion blinked curiously. "I thought you and Sora were cousins."

"We are." Roxas smiled, knowing where this conversation was heading.

"But you just said 'our parents', not 'his parents' or 'my parents'." Xion said.

Roxas was about to reply when a tall, lanky red haired man approached Xion from behind and grabbed her ice cream cup. He quickly dipped his fingers in the ice cream before Xion snatched her cup back, a deep scowl set upon her doll-like face.

"Axel!" Xion snapped. "Why did you do that for? Now I have to get another one!"

"Hello there, Xion!" Axel smirked. "There's no need for you to get another ice cream, my fingers are clean."

"Uh-huh." Xion rolled her eyes. "Yeah, tell that to someone who doesn't know you better."

Axel laughed before turning to face Roxas. "What's your name, spiky?"

"I, uh, Rox." The blond stammered.

Axel raised an eyebrow. "You 'rocks'? Awesome, we can all 'rocks' on together."

Roxas felt incredibly stupid and mentally beat himself up while Xion giggled. "Err, no, what I meant to say was that my name is Roxas."

"The name's Axel," the redhead pointed to his right temple with his index finger. "Got it memorized?"

"I know who you are." Roxas smiled. "Axel Flynn, the lead singer of the group The Organization."

Axel gave Roxas a lopsided smirk. "Well, how about that? You're a fan."

"Yeah, a huge fan!" Roxas said proudly. "I've been a fan of yours since I was thirteen!"

"And how old are you now?" Axel asked in an impressed tone.

"I turn twenty one in two months." Roxas replied.

"Wow, you're a long time fan!" Axel grinned. "Well, well, well Roxas, that's pretty cool to hear!"

"Aw, aren't you happy Axel?" Xion said sweetly. "You have your very first fan!"

"Oh shut up." Axel rolled his eyes and quickly took Xion's ice cream cup away from her again, holding it above his head and completely out of her reach. "Aw, poor wittle Xion-kins can't weach all da way up here, 'cause she so tiny."

"Axel!" Xion hissed, jumping up and down trying to reach her cup. "Give it!"

"What's that magical phrase?" Axel said in arrogant tone.

Xion huffed. "I am _not_ saying that stupid phrase."

"Too bad, then." Axel brought the cup to his face and proceeded to lick the remaining ice cream before giving it back to Xion with a devilish grin. "Love you, Xion."

"You are dead, Flynn." Xion hissed. She walked back to the mini freezer and grabbed another ice cream cup, throwing away her old one. She glared at Axel as he laughed. "You are so dead."

Axel smiled impishly at Xion before turning to face Roxas. "So Roxas, how did you get inside this building anyway?"

Xion gave Axel a dubious look. "Didn't you hear from Saïx? Roxas is the lead singer of the Keyblade Wielders, the company's new band."

Axel looked mildly impressed. "Oh really? When are guys officially debuting?"

"Friday." Roxas replied.

"Two days, huh?" Axel whistled. "Feelin' the nerves yet?"

"Not at the moment." Roxas said honestly. "But I'll probably start feeling it tomorrow."

"I was the same, except I didn't feel nervous until about the last five minutes." Axel said reminiscently.

Xion rolled her eyes. "Why am I not surprised? You never take anything seriously."

"I do too." Axel said in mock indignation. "But only when it's convenient, of course."

Roxas stared; it was somewhat strange to see Axel in such a natural manner. Roxas had always figured Axel to be the coolest guy in the world, and he really was, just in a much more laid back manner than Roxas had imagined. Axel was the go-along-with-the-flow type of guy, like nothing much fazed him. Roxas felt that his original idea of Axel's 'real' personality was clichéd and he was utterly relieved to know that Axel was just another guy with a really strange sense of humor.

"I really would love to stay and play with you kiddies, but I have to get going." Axel yawned. "We have a dance rehearsal, then interview in an hour and we have to go the guy's location."

"Oh, you're getting interview by _HIM_ again?" Xion said disgustedly.

"Yup." Axel said, putting emphasis on the 'p' sound. "You know how he demands all of the 'exclusives'."

"That guy is so creepy." Xion frowned. "And his holier-than-thou personality is enough to want to kick him in his privates."

Roxas's eyes widened. Even though he barely knew Xion for two whole days, he never expected her to say that. Maybe Kairi, but Xion?

"I normally would disagree with that type of action, but 'Mr. Chilly Academic' deserves it." Axel said. He looked at Roxas and held out his palm and the two high-fived each other. "It was cool meeting you, Roxas."

"Likewise." Roxas grinned.

Axel turned and faced Xion and squeezed her tightly. "See you around Xion."

"Bye Axel." Xion said in a strained voice.

He let her go and waved goodbye before walking to the other side of the cafeteria and walked out through the door on the opposite end.

"Wow, he's really something else." Roxas said before eating another spoonful of his slightly melted ice cream.

"You have no idea." Xion said with a crooked smile. "He's like the over bearing older brother that loves to goof off and give you wet-willies when you're not paying attention."

"Wet-willies?" Roxas laughed. His mind quickly zoomed into overdrive, rapidly constructing a scene in which an unsuspecting Xion is sitting in a cafeteria chair while Axel sneaks up on her and proceeds to give her a wet-willy, causing her to squeal in disgust.

"Yes, seriously." Xion said gravely. "You'd think that would be something Demyx would do, but no."

"They must be a fun bunch." Roxas smiled.

Xion sighed exasperatedly. "Axel and Demyx are, Zexion sometimes will join in on the pranks but not always, Marluxia just watches everyone and Larxene will yell at everyone unless she's reading a Marquis de Sade book."

Roxas's eyes widened. "Marquis de Sade?"

Xion made an uncomfortable expression. "Yeah…she's into that kind of kinky things."

Roxas had no words for that, so he filled up his mouth with ice cream and let the frozen treat melt away in his mouth.

Xion gave him an understanding smile and started walking back to their eating table with Roxas following her. Roxas noticed how Snow had an empty plate in front of him with a dirty fork right in the middle of the plate, Riku had a semi-finished deli sandwich on his own plate, and Sora had what looked like brownie crumbs scattered all over his plate. As soon as Roxas sat down, Sora gave him a confused look.

"Dude, where's my ice cream?" he frowned.

Roxas raised an eyebrow. "I believe I told you to go get your own."

"Aw, you're mean." Sora pouted.

Roxas rolled his eyes, but Kairi looked rather endeared with Sora's prominent pout.

"Wanna go get ice cream?" the red haired girl asked as she stood from her seat.

Sora stared at her slender figure momentarily before standing up and looking at her face with a slight blush on his cheeks. "Y-yeah!" Kairi smiled and the two walked away chatting happily.

"Those two are really hitting it off, aren't they?" Riku smirked amusedly.

"Definitely." Roxas grinned as he finished his ice cream with one last scoop. He looked over at Xion who was looking intently at her cell and rapidly texted a reply.

"Hey guys." Xion said. "I just got a text from Terra, you guys need to head over to the Superior's office ASAP."

"Really?" Roxas, Snow, and Riku said in unison.

Xion nodded.

Roxas looked over at Sora; the brunette was laughing while Kairi gave him a playful slap on his forearm, a mocking scowl on her face.

_I really hate to break up their date, but we gotta go._

"Sora!" Roxas called out.

Sora turned to look at his cousin with a raised eyebrow. Roxas motioned his cousin towards the table with his hand. Sora frowned but walked forward nonetheless with Kairi linking her arm with his.

"What's up?" Sora said, clearly trying to hide his annoyance.

"We have to go the Superior's office." Roxas told him.

Sora's eyes widened. "Right now?"

"Yeah, right now." Riku deadpanned.

Sora pouted as Kairi unlinked their arms. "You should get going." She smiled serenely.

Roxas, Riku and Snow stood up from their seats; Xion rose from her chair a few seconds after.

"We'll see you girls later." Roxas smiled as he hugged Xion.

"For sure!" Kairi smiled as she hugged Roxas. She then turned to Sora and gave him a lingering hug.

Riku raised an eyebrow as Snow sniggered behind his hands. The smaller blond hugged Xion and then he hugged Kairi. Roxas noticed how Snow hugged the girls as if they were his sisters.

_Okay, now THAT'S how you act towards a sibling. Not like what Riku does._

Riku gave Xion a hug, which caused the raven haired girl's cheeks to light up slightly.

_I really hope Xion isn't taking an interest in Riku…especially if he really is taking an interest in Snow._

Sora and Xion hugged while Riku and Kairi hugged. Snow walked over to Roxas and smiled at the taller blond. Roxas smiled back and noticed that Snow had crumbs on his left cheek.

"You got something on your cheek." Roxas chuckled.

"Oh!" Snow quickly wiped his entire face, a light blush spreading through his cheeks. "Is it gone?"

Roxas nodded. "Yup, all gone."

Snow smiled happily and Roxas felt a warm sensation spread through him. _He's such a little kid, but a lot more mature than little kids like Sora._

Roxas's hand reached to Snow's short tresses and ruffled the smaller blond's hair. Snow let out a raspy laugh, causing Roxas to smile warmly.

Roxas then looked over at the others. Kairi and Xion were giggling, while Sora gave Roxas a lopsided smile. Riku, however was practically giving Roxas a death glare. Roxas didn't think he deserved such a glare; all he had done was pet Snow, like any _real_ older brother would to a younger sibling.

Sora seemed to pick up on the slowly building tension between the two and quickly stepped in front of Riku, effectively breaking eye contact between his cousin and his best friend.

"Okay!" Sora forcibly smiled. "Shall we get going?"

"We shall!" Snow stepped beside Sora and also gave a forced smile; clearly the tiny blond had also become aware of the building tension between Roxas and Riku.

Roxas genuinely gave his cousin and Snow a grateful smile and waved goodbye to the two girls before he walked out of the cafeteria, and he could hear the others' footsteps behind him.

"The Superior's office is in the fourth floor of the other building, right?" Sora asked as they walked out to the main hallway.

"Wasn't it on the third floor?" Snow rasped.

"I think it was." Roxas said looking at Snow. "Yeah, I remember that we went to the third floor yesterday."

Riku stared at the two blonds momentarily and then walked past all three of them. "Let's not make them wait any longer."

"Uh right!" Sora replied hastily, quickly walking up to his best friend.

Roxas rolled his eyes. "Someone needs to get the stick out of his ass."

"You mean Riku?" Snow asked. "Why is he acting like this?"

"Hell if I know." Roxas replied as he started walking with Snow right beside him. "I swear he goes through more PMS than a girl does."

Snow made a disapproving face at Roxas's comment. "Eww."

Roxas laughed at Snow's scrunched up expression. "You're like a little kid."

"I am?" Snow blinked. "Funny you say that, I'm almost twenty one."

Roxas stopped dead in his tracks. "You're HOW old?"

Snow looked taken back. "I'm almost twenty one."

"In a few years time, right?" Roxas said incredulously. "You're, what, eighteen right now right?"

Snow chuckled. "I was eighteen almost three years ago, Roxas."

Roxas's jaw dropped. "B-but you're so tiny! You look like you're still in high school!"

"I get that all the time." Snow said with a soft smile.

_Wow, I can't believe we're the same age! He looks so young! His feminine features really don't help him…_

"Wow, I bet you don't get many dates because of your looks, right?" Roxas smiled.

Snow sighed and looked away, his blush spreading throughout his face. "…I've never been on a date…"

"You haven't?" Roxas said with wide eyes. "Oh we're gonna fix that, don't worry."

"W-what?" Snow's head jerked and he looked completely panicked.

"I'll get you a date." Roxas smiled reassuringly at Snow as he placed an arm around Snow's small frame. "What type of girls do you like?"

"Wha? Bu-but I don't-" Snow stammered.

"Don't worry," Roxas said soothingly. "We'll figure out your ideal type later. Right now, we should get to Xemnas's office before it's late."

Snow still looked panicked but reluctantly nodded as the two ran across the long walkway to the other building. Roxas noticed how Sora and Riku had already reached the third floor and were waiting for the two blonds. Snow and Roxas ran down the third floor stairs as Riku started walking away towards the end of the third floor hallway.

When the three of them caught up with Riku, Roxas saw a familiar open lounge area with several couches, a coffee table and a TV in the middle. They walked past several closed doors until they stood in front of a large door with the number 1 in roman numerals, I.

Sora awkwardly knocked on the door before a familiar deep, resounding voice answered. "Come in."

Sora gulped and opened the door; Terra and Aqua were sitting on the throne-like chairs next to each other. Terra was dressed in his black shirt and dark brown khaki pants from earlier, but Aqua was no longer wearing her sexy workout clothes; she was wearing a sparkly turquoise halter top, ripped skinny jeans, and black heels, sporting a diamond ring on her left hand. She looked really elegant; her top didn't show her supple cleavage like her sports bra had, but it was still easy to be drawn to her chest.

_Bad Roxas, that's a friend and an engaged woman you are checking out._

Roxas looked over at Xemnas; he was still wearing a matching black blazer and slacks, with a white dress shirt under the blazer.

"Good tidings, friends." Xemnas smiled. "Please, have a seat."

The four of them quickly sat on the seats on the opposite end from the engaged couple.

"How is everyone doing on this marvelous day?" Xemnas asked at the four band members.

The four of them gave him weak replies of 'we're good', 'awesome' and 'fine'. Xemnas didn't seem to be fazed by their responses and continued. "I'm sure that you are aware of our current situation, it seems that the general consensus votes in favor of an original song of your composition, rather than provide you with one of our own."

"We heard from Xion." Riku replied.

"Ah, excellent. Good to know that Miss Stoner has kept you informed. Miss Holland, please have Miss Panettiere come here immediately. " Xemnas said in a pleasant voice, but his smile was rather unsettling, while Aqua quickly texted Xemnas's request. "Before I reach an official decision, I have a small petition to make of you."

Roxas raised an eyebrow but no reply came from any of them, not that it would matter to Xemnas. "Would you indulge me in hearing you sing your song 'Disguise' in a cappella?"

Roxas blinked rapidly. Why did Xemnas want them to sing a cappella for? Roxas turned to look at Sora and Riku. Riku also looked rather thrown off, but Sora looked completely aghast.

"Well?" Xemnas said in a looming voice.

Riku looked at Roxas and nodded, Sora exhaled and weakly nodded at Roxas. The tall blond stood up and faced Xemnas. "Snow will be left out since he's not familiar with the song."

"Understood." Xemnas said with a slight nod.

At that moment, the door opened and Kairi walked in with a coy smile on her face. She waved at the band members and the couple before giving Xemnas a respectful nod. She walked over to the throne-chairs and sat in Snow's seat. The two were slim enough to fit together, it was rather funny.

Sora and Riku stood up as well and the three of them sighed and shook off their nerves and sang in perfect unison.

**I don't mind your teasing, I would often encourage it. Your perfume, your lips and your body drive me insane. The sensations you cause in me are all I need to live.**

**You say you want to just pass the time, but baby that just won't do.**

**Something about you makes me crave you more and more, I feel so pathetic, how can a simple kiss drive me up a waaaaaaaaall?**

**Let me say that you won't be doing that, no I won't let you do that.**

**I'm not just gonna let you leave like that. You drive me insane with your little games, that I can barely take it anymore.**

**Even if you leave while I'm asleep, somehow, I'll find you.**

**Even if you leave to another country, I'll find you.**

**Even if you wear men's clothes as a disguise, I'll find you.**

**I tried pretending that your soft little touches had no effect on me, I even ignored that voice inside my head telling me that I was falling for you.**

**You say that's it not like destiny has a red string tied around our pinkies, that you're free to do whatever you like.**

**This all had started as a game for you, but honey things just got serious.**

**I worry that I'll seem like some stalker, but darling just look at me.**

**I really did fall for you, for your words, for your loooooooove...**

**Let me say that you won't be leaving, no I can't let you leave.**

**I can't just let you slip through my fingers. You drove me insane with your little games, that I feel like some addict.**

**Even if you leave while I'm asleep, somehow, I'll find you.**

**Even if you leave to another country, I'll find you.**

**Even if you wear men's clothing as a disguise, I'll find you.**

**The sensation of the two of us under the sheets has been engraved into my whole being.**

**Just remembering that makes my lips tremble, and my body aches for you.**

**I could list everything that I love about you alphabetically.**

**All I'm saying to you is that the game is over, this is reaaaaaaaaaaaal.**

**Let me say that you're not going anywhere, unless I'm there with you.**

**I wouldn't be able to let you go. If your game of love is a drug, then consider me a junkie for it.**

**Wherever you hide, I'll find you.**

**Whichever country you live in, I'll find you.**

**Whatever disguise you wear, I'll find you.**

**You can't hide from me, I hate to be a stalker but this is what happens when you play such dangerous games!**

**You can wear any disguise, I'll know it's you.**

They finished their song and sighed. Roxas looked over at Terra and Aqua; the two looked a pair of proud parents that just watched their kids perform at a talent show. Snow and Kairi looked absolutely mesmerized and beamed at them.

Roxas looked at Xemnas who had a rather passive look on his face. The tall dark skinned man stood from his throne and walked around his desk slowly. Roxas was sure that Xemnas was doing this for a more dramatic effect.

Xemnas startled all of them when he began to clap loudly. "Impressive, most impressive." He said dramatically. "I now know why Terra was so fascinated by your skills. You are all truly engaging; you graved hold of all of us here in this vicinity and kept our undivided attention."

For once, Roxas was the one paying every bit of attention to Xemnas.

"I have made my decision." Xemnas announced in a rather passionate voice. "You will record your song for your debut."

"Yes!" Sora beamed. Laughter echoed throughout the room as the three singers high-fived each other.

"You will begin recording your song tomorrow." Xemnas said eloquently. "It is imperative that this song is recorded and finished for Friday's press conference. You are aware, I'm sure, that this conference will mark your official announcement. The single will be sold within the coming week; this week will also have your very first interview with our most well known reporter, Mr. Vexen Even Prince, more commonly known as 'The Chilly Academic'."

_Wait a minute, that's that guy that Axel and Xion were complaining about earlier._

"The interview is scheduled for first thing on Monday," Terra said as he looked at the four members. At this point three that had been previously standing took their seats. "On Tuesday, you guys will have another photoshoot, this one will be for the cover of the CD, and Kairi will go over the details on that later. Wednesday, we have to go on location at the Great Fountain here in the city; you guys will do another photoshoot for Radiant Gossip Magazine and your photographer will be Ariel again. Thursday, Friday and Saturday will be full dance rehearsals for the music video concepts. And Sunday will be your free day."

_Holy shit…all of that in just one week? An interview, photoshoots, and music video concepts?_

"I know it seems like a lot, but don't worry." Aqua said in a motherly voice. "The week will go by so fast, you'll barely notice."

"As far as the fashion aspect goes," Kairi said warmly. "You just leave it to me, I'll make you guys look amazing."

"Now that everything is in accordance, you are free to leave." Xemnas said in a more normal voice. "Be sure to be well rested, as tomorrow, you will truly begin."

Xemnas walked back to his desk and picked up the receiver of his desk phone. Everyone else took that as their cue to leave the room. One by one, they all walked out of Xemnas's office and into the third floor hallway. Roxas looked at his phone and his eyes widened; it was 2:54pm.

"Holy crap," Roxas said in shock. "It's almost three o'clock!"

"No way!" Sora gaped. "It feels like it's barely noon!"

"How did time fly by so fast?" Snow asked.

Terra chuckled. "We call it 'The Superior Effect'."

Roxas raised an eyebrow as Sora and Kairi laughed. "The hell?"

"Time always flies by whenever our Superior goes on long-winded speeches." Aqua giggled.

Roxas snorted. "So basically all the time."

"Pretty much." Kairi giggled. "It never gets old; most people tend to block him off after the third speech."

"Two down." Riku snickered.

"On more to go." Snow chuckled.

"If you guys want to go home, feel free to do so." Terra smiled. "Since you guys won't record your song until tomorrow, there's not much for you guys to do."

The four of them looked at each other uncertainly. Roxas could tell that none of them really had much desire to go home.

"Ooh, I have to go to my office." Kairi said suddenly. "I have to get started on your wardrobe concepts for next week's photoshoots. I'll see you guys around!"

She waved at them and quickly made her way to the second floor stairs.

"I have to get going too." Aqua said. "I have to meet with YRP and go over the dance routine for their next video."

"YRP?" Snow tilted his head.

"They're the three member group that was signed on right before you guys." Terra said pointedly. "We'll see you guys around!" the couple waved goodbye and walked off to the second floor staircase much like Kairi had done previously.

_YRP, huh? So they're the reason why Snow had to be signed with us._ Roxas felt like he should be upset with them, but he really wasn't. Snow wasn't a burden or an annoyance; quite the contrary, despite his current malady, the tiny blond still did his best to be a part of the group. And because of Snow's inclusion, Roxas finally knew what it felt like to have a younger sibling figure.

Roxas was pretty sure that Sora felt the same way about Snow, the two of them got along so well, it's like they knew each other since childhood. And as for Riku…well, the tall silverette certainly didn't regret Snow's inclusion one bit.

"What now?" Riku asked in a bored manner.

Sora shrugged. "Anyone up for exploring?"

"Again?" Riku rolled his eyes.

"Well do you have any batter ideas?" Sora huffed.

When the silverette didn't reply, Sora grinned. Snow however, moved past them and walked towards the main area of the hallway.

"I'm going back to the other building." He said serenely. "I want to know what's on the other floors since all we saw was the cafeteria on the fourth floor."

"You have a point there." Riku replied.

_Oh boy, here we go._

"I'll go with you." Riku smiled at the minute blond.

Snow nodded and smiled appreciatively at Riku. The two of them walked up the fourth floor stairs, leaving the two cousins behind.

"Okay, I _really_ think Riku's got a thing for Snow now." Roxas told Sora as they walked towards the second floor staircase.

Sora looked uncertain. "I know it looks odd, but aren't we jumping the gun?"

"I don't think so." Roxas said with all certainty. "The way Riku treats Snow is much too attentive."

Sora raised an eyebrow. "You know, Roxas…when you say it like that, you sound like you're jealous."

"Jealous?" Roxas sputtered. "Of _what?"_

Sora hesitated. "Of how Riku behaves around Snow. Almost like as if you wished that you were the one treating Snow in that way."

"No no no no." Roxas shook his head. "I, unlike Riku, genuinely see Snow as a little brother. What I was saying is that Riku normally acts all charming and courteous around girls."

"I know that." Sora said. "But it's just the tone in which you said it that made me think that way."

"Okay, I guess I see how you would think that." Roxas muttered. "But seriously, Riku is basically acting like Snow is a girl, when he's not. I really think that Riku might be bi."

"I think so too." Sora said quietly as they reached the second floor hallway. "When you were eating ice cream with Xion this morning, Riku acted like he was on a date with Snow."

"Why am I not surprised?" Roxas rolled his eyes. "What did he do?"

"He served Snow two pancakes and even poured the honey." Sora said with a slight laugh. "I almost started laughing out loud when Snow had honey dripping from his mouth and Riku cleaned him."

"Wow." Roxas shook his head. "I'm sorry, but that's too much."

"I know." Sora chortled. "I thought Kairi might have found it weird, but she looked like she thought it was cute or something."

"Heads up with that." Roxas warned. "She might be one of those types."

"What types?" Sora asked with a raised eyebrow.

"The type that thinks that guy-on-guy is hot." Roxas replied.

Sora made a face. "Oh I hope not. I have nothing against homo or bisexuality, but the last thing I want is for the girl that I like to talk her mouth off about guy-on-guy fantasies."

The two walked down the hallway when Roxas heard a voice coming from the opposite end. "Sora, do you hear that?"

"You mean that voice?" Sora replied as they both halted.

"Get off me!" a female voice screamed.

Roxas blinked as the voice slowly registered in his brain. "That sounds like…"

"I swear I'll impale your ball sack!" the girl yelled furiously.

"Kairi!" Sora ran towards the sound of her voice.

Roxas ran after his cousin who neared the end of the hallway, and his eyes widened when he saw Kairi slapping Vanitas across the face.

"Cute." Vanitas grinned devilishly. "I've always wanted to see how true the 'fiery redhead' stereotype is." He quickly grabbed her by her waist as she continuously struggled against his hold.

"Sora, let go off me!" she shrieked. "Why are you acting like this?"

_She thinks he's Sora? Uh oh._

Roxas looked over at Sora and wasn't the least bit surprised to see an infuriated Sora.

"Let go off her!" The brunette roared and quickly ran up to his older brother and pulled Kairi out of Vanitas's arms, much to Kairi and the darker brunette's shock.

"Sora?" Kairi asked with wide eyes as Roxas ran over to them. "What? But you...?"

"Sora!" Vanitas said with a sneer. "I was looking all over for you, baby brother!"

Sora let go of Kairi as Roxas stepped in front of her. Roxas had never seen Sora look this way before; murderous. Sora walked up to Vanitas as the older brother opened his arms as if expecting a hug.

What he received was definitely not what anyone expected. Sora ran up to Vanitas and punched him right in the mouth. "Don't you ever lay a finger on her again! Do you hear me!" Sora roared.

Vanitas momentarily staggered as he wiped off the blood spewing out of his mouth. "You're gonna regret doing that, little bro."

Roxas knew Vanitas was gonna retaliate and quickly ran to his older cousin and pushed him back as Vanitas was about to attack Sora. Kairi snapped out of her shock and moved in front of Sora as he was about to counter whatever attack Vanitas was going to do.

"Sora don't!" Kairi said as she hugged his waist in hopes of distracting him. "He's not worth it!"

"Vanitas knock it off!" Roxas hissed as he shoved Vanitas back against the wall.

"Get off me Roxas!" Vanitas snapped. "I'm gonna teach my brother to respect his elders!"

"You don't deserve any respect!" Sora snapped back. "A man that harasses women deserves to be beaten to a bloody pulp!"

"What's going on?" came a voice from a doorway.

The four of them turned to see Axel walking out of a room drenched in sweat. "Kairi, what the hell is going on?"

Kairi blinked. "N-nothing!" Sora looked down at her in shock.

"Sure doesn't look like 'nothing' to me." Axel hissed as he walked over to them. He looked over at Roxas who still had Vanitas pushed against the wall. "Care to tell me the truth, Roxas?"

Roxas looked at his two cousins and sighed. "Don't worry about it, Axel."

Axel raised his eyebrows. "Okay then, I guess security will handle this one."

_Shit!_

"Don't call security!" Roxas yelled. He then turned to Vanitas and glared at his older cousin. "Vanitas was just about to leave. Isn't that right, _Van_?"

Vanitas glared back at Roxas, then at Sora. Roxas knew Vanitas wasn't stupid enough to get security involved. "…yeah."

Axel didn't look convinced. "Well you better get going then, guy."

Roxas slowly let go of his hold on Vanitas, never dropping his guard. Sora immediately protectively wrapped his arms around Kairi, something which Axel instantly noticed.

"By the way," Vanitas smiled malevolently. "Mom and Dad said 'hi'."

Roxas's eyes widened as Vanitas walked past him and threw a murderous glare at Sora, who matched his older brother's glare.

"I better not see you around these premises again." Axel warned as Vanitas passed him.

Roxas knew Vanitas didn't give a shit about what Axel said; he just kept walking towards the first floor stairs. There a collective sigh of relief as soon as Vanitas walked out of the building.

"Who the fuck was that guy?" Axel hissed.

"…my older brother." Sora spat.

Axel walked in front of Sora and his eyes widened. "Yeah, I see the resemblance now."

Sora shook his head as his arms fell to his sides, letting go of Kairi. "Did he hurt you?" he whispered worriedly.

"No." Kairi smiled gently at Sora. She then looked down at the ground and sighed. "I owe you an apology."

"For what?" Sora asked confusedly. "You didn't do anything wrong."

"I…" Kairi's voice cracked. "I thought you were him…I called him Sora several times."

Sora closed his eyes. "It's okay; you didn't know I have an older brother."

"Man, you sure do have an evil twin." Axel said. "And I thought Reno was bad."

"Vanitas isn't my twin." Sora looked at Axel. "He's older than me by three years."

Kairi and Axel's eyes widened. "What."

Sora looked away. Kairi hugged him and nestled her head on the crook of his neck. Sora was a bit taken back, but returned her hug nonetheless.

Roxas walked over to Axel and dragged the tall redhead away by his sleeve. "Come on, we have no business here."

"Whoa, I don't even know that guy's name and he's making a move on my little sister?" Axel hissed.

Roxas stopped dead in his tracks. "Kairi's your sister?"

"Can't you see the resemblance?" Axel pointed to his flaming hair. "I'm kidding; she's not my sister by blood. She's Xion's sister, and Xion is my surrogate little sister, so that makes Kairi my sister by association."

"Wait…" Roxas said. "Kairi and Xion are sisters?"

"Indeed they are." Axel replied.

"So that's why they look alike!" Roxas said.

"Bingo!" Axel smiled before he shook his head. "Man, you're slow."

Roxas rolled his eyes. "But if they're sisters, why do they have different last names?"

Axel raised his eyebrows. "Hmm, maybe you're not so slow after all."

"Oh thanks." Roxas said sarcastically.

"Look, that ain't my story to tell." Axel replied seriously. "You'll have to ask either Xion or Kairi to hear the whole thing. Anyways, I gotta head back before bitch-face decides to castrate me."

Roxas's eyes widened in horror as Axel burst in laughter; the tall redhead did a parting salute and walked back to the room he had been in. Roxas shook his head and then turned to look at Sora and Kairi; they were still embracing, swaying from side-to-side, almost like they were dancing. Roxas smiled and decided to leave the two love birds alone.

Roxas walked up towards the third floor stairs as Vanitas's parting words replayed in his mind.

"_Mom and Dad said 'hi'."_

Roxas wanted to punch himself; he and Sora had promised to call every day. Almost two weeks had passed and neither he nor Sora had made a single phone call. The fact that Vanitas of all people had to be the one to bring this up to them made it worse. Roxas sighed as he reached the third floor. He pulled out his cell from inside his jeans and stared at it. He had no idea what the country code for Destiny Islands was.

_I wonder if she Xion would know…_

He flipped his phone open and quickly sent a text to the raven haired brunette.

**Roxas: Do you by any chance know the country code for Destiny Islands?**

Xion replied in a few seconds.

**Xion: I'm afraid I don't, sorry. :(**

**Roxas: *sigh* It's okay.**

**Xion: Go to the reception area and ask the front desk.**

Roxas furrowed his brows; he had never noticed a reception area before.

**Roxas: Okay, thanks!**

**Xion: You're welcome! :)**

Roxas walked back down to the second floor and looked around to see if he could find Sora. His cousin was nowhere in sight and neither was Kairi. Roxas smirked; he knew that wherever Kairi was, Sora was sure to be with her. He continued his way down to the main lobby and looked around for the reception desk. The desk was located right between the two buildings in the middle of the lobby. Roxas walked up to the desk and a raven haired young woman looked up at him.

"May I help you, sir?" she asked with a sweet smile. She was wearing a powder blue blazer with a black blouse underneath and a matching skirt. Roxas noticed a name tag pined on her blazer pocket: Rinoa.

"Uh yeah," Roxas replied. "Could you tell me what the country code for Destiny Islands is?"

"Certainly." Rinoa said in crystalline voice. She turned to her computer and typed rapidly. She then grabbed a pen and a sticky note and wrote down a number there. "Here you are, Mr. McCartney."

"Thanks." Roxas smiled as he grabbed the sticky note. He began to walk up the first floor stairs as he entered the country code on his new phone along with his parent's house number. As soon as he finished he looked at his surroundings. He was standing in the middle of the second floor hallway, with nothing to do. He considered texting the others to see if they wanted to go home, but he didn't want to interrupt anything between Sora and Kairi, and he certainly didn't feel like pissing Riku off for cutting his quality time with Snow.

_Man, this wouldn't be so bad if I had some sea salt ice cream._

Suddenly, a hand fell on his shoulder. Roxas looked up and saw Terra smiling at him. "Why the long face, Roxas?"

"I'm bored." Roxas replied. "Sora is with Kairi and I have no clue where Snow and Riku went."

"I see," Terra said, taking his hand away from Roxas's shoulder. "Roxas, do you mind if I ask you something?"

"What's up?" Roxas said.

Terra hesitated. "…did you ever know someone by the name of Ventus?"

Roxas raised an eyebrow thoughtfully. "No, I don't think so. Why?"

"It's just you remind me of an old friend." Terra reminisced. "You guys look a lot alike…you could pass for his twin, actually."

Roxas raised his eyebrows. "Wow, seriously?"

"Yeah, but he's a bit older than you." Terra said. "I haven't seen him since I twenty, and I just turned thirty."

"Wow, ten years." Roxas said quietly.

"Roxas!"

Roxas looked up to the third floor and saw that Snow was waving happily at him over the third floor railing. Roxas smiled and waved back at the thin-framed blond.

"I'll see you later, Terra!" Roxas waved as Terra smiled. Roxas walked over to the third floor stairs to see Snow walking towards him, smiling gently.

"Where's Riku?" Roxas asked upon noticing the silverette's absence.

"He's in the restroom." Snow replied. "Here, I got this for you." Snow held out a familiar looking small ice cream cup.

"Sea salt ice cream!" Roxas smiled. "Thanks Snow, this just what I was craving."

"Really?" Snow tilted his head.

"Really." Roxas replied taking a large scoop. "Mmm, delicious."

"Is it that good?" Snow asked.

"You haven't tried it?" Roxas said with raised eyebrows.

Snow shook his head. "I had mango flavor instead."

"Here, try it." Roxas scooped up a bit and gave the small plastic spoon to Snow. The small blond took it and ate the frozen treat. Snow instantly recoiled when the flavor clashed with his taste buds and Roxas let out a laugh.

"It's so salty!" Snow rasped. His face slowly returned to normal as he slowly licked his lips. "…but sweet!"

"See, isn't this the best flavor?" Roxas asked before grabbing the spoon back and taking another large spoonful.

"It'll take some time to get used to it." Snow smiled. "But it does taste pretty good. Riku said it tastes like crap."

Roxas rolled his eyes. "He just doesn't have a good taste, that's all."

"Thank you." Snow said quietly.

Roxas looked at the small blond confusedly. "For what?"

"Earlier, when you comforted me after I told you about my sister." Snow replied.

Roxas smiled at the tiny blond and walked closer to him and ruffled Snow's golden tresses. "What are friends for?"

Snow chuckled and Roxas felt like the tiny blond's large orbs were glistening. Roxas felt like as if he had seen such eyes before…the same large, cerulean orbs somewhere. He pushed the thought of his head when he heard approaching footsteps. Riku was walking towards the two blonds with an unreadable expression.

"Where's Sora?" Riku asked emotionlessly.

Roxas raised an eyebrow. "He's with Kairi somewhere around here."

"Those two are so adorable together." Snow said. "They make a good couple."

"I see I'm not the only one who thinks so." Roxas smirked.

"Thanks for the support guys." Said a jovial voice.

The three turned to see Sora walking from the second floor stairs with a wide grin plastered on his face. "I agree with your sentiments wholeheartedly."

Riku laughed. "I can't believe you actually found someone who thinks you're a complete dork and _likes_ the fact that you're a complete dork."

Sora grinned toothily. "Hey, dorks need some lovin' too you know!"

The four of them laughed heartily as they walked down to the second floor.

"I wanna go home." Roxas said.

"Me too." Snow said serenely.

"Me three!" Sora said enthusiastically. "Hey, let's go swimming in our pool!"

"We should have a cookout on the grill that's right by the pool." Riku said.

"YES!" Sora boomed. "Let's get some burgers and some hot dogs!"

"Pool party basically." Roxas smiled. The idea of relaxing by the pool side while eating a cheese burger really appealed to him.

* * *

><p>They arrived at their luxurious home at around 4:45pm, after stopping by at a grocery store and buying all the necessary items for their cookout. Sora had changed into his bright red swim trunks and nearly blinded them all when he stepped out into the sun light.<p>

"Don't you have any other pairs besides those?" Roxas frowned, averting his eyes from the bright color.

"Nope!" Sora grinned.

Roxas was wearing black swim trunks and helping set up the grill. The patio was right in front of their 18ft deep pool; at the far right end of the pool area was a raised spa with tile veneer. The pool had five steps leading in on the shallow end and on the far left side was a small waterfall.

The patio had a round table with four chairs and two large poolside chairs, the entire area was covered by a canopy. Riku walked out in his navy blue trunks and placed his towel on a poolside chair right next to Sora and Roxas's towels.

"Where's Snow?" Riku asked.

Roxas shrugged. "I think he's still upstairs."

Riku had an uncertain expression on his face and walked over to the grill. "Are we gonna make both the hot dogs and the burgers?"

Roxas nodded. "I guess. Sora wants a burger and I want a hot dog so…"

Sora walked out from inside the house carrying meat patties, sausages, buns, and a mayonnaise jar in his arms. "A little help please?"

Riku walked over the brunette and took the buns and patties out of Sora's hands. "Where's the rest of the stuff?"

"Snow's bringing it." Sora replied as the two set the stuff down on the table.

"I'm here." Said a raspy voice. Snow walked out of the sliding glass door carrying mustard, tomatoes, a bag of lettuce, and paper plates. He set the items down on the table as well. "What else do we need?"

"Chips and sodas!" Sora grinned. He ran back inside the house.

Roxas looked at Snow; the small blond was wearing plaid shorts and a ¾ sleeve blue shirt and low rise converse. "Where are your swim trunks?"

Snow looked around uncomfortably. "…I can't swim."

"You can't swim or you don't know how to swim?" Roxas smiled.

Snow tugged on the back of his short hair. "…I don't know how to swim."

"You don't know how to swim?" Sora asked as he walked out of the house, laden with an assortment of differently flavored chips and two soda bottles in a plastic bag. He set them down on the table and turned to face Snow. "I'll teach you how to swim!"

"Sora all you do is the froggy paddle." Riku smirked. "That's not actual swimming."

Sora scowled at his best friend. "It is swimming!"

Roxas laughed but Snow still looked uncomfortable.

"Watch this Snow!" Sora ran towards the pool and did a cannon ball. Water splashed all over before Sora surfaced, his hair quickly recovered its natural shape. "Ah, the water feels great!"

"Lame!" Roxas yelled.

He ran towards the pool and jumped right into it. When he surfaced, he wiped the water out of his eyes and grinned triumphantly at Sora who had his arms crossed.

"You guys are amateurs!" Riku said confidently. He sprinted right in the direction of the two cousins and jumped. Sora and Roxas moved away as water splashed all around them, Riku surfaced and moved his hair out of his face. "How do you like that?"

"Pfft," Sora rolled his eyes. "I can do better than that blindfolded."

Roxas heard a laugh coming from the poolside and looked over at Snow as he sat at the pool's edge with his feet inside the water. "You don't have to be in the deep end, just stay on the shallow end." Roxas smiled warmly.

Snow shook his head. "No, I'm fine here."

Sora swam towards the small blond. "You sure? The water's great!"

Roxas swam to the edge and climbed out of the pool. "If you want, I can teach you to swim."

"No it's okay, really." Snow insisted.

"Oh don't be such a girl!" Sora said as he grabbed Snow's arm. "Come on!"

"No Sora, please don't!" Snow panicked, trying to free himself from Sora's grasp. "Sora don't!"

"Sora leave him alone!" Riku yelled as he swan towards the two.

Roxas had initially been tempted to actually push Snow inside the pool, but the smaller blond's faced turned from panic to genuine fear. "Sora, leave him!"

"The water isn't going to hurt you!" Sora smiled at Snow. "I'll teach you to swim, so don't worry!"

"Sora please don't!" Snow screamed, tears welling up in his cerulean eyes. He tried pulling away from Sora but couldn't manage it. "Sora let go!"

"Sora let him go!" Riku growled as he pushed the brunette into the water. Unfortunately, this caused Snow to lose his balance and slipped.

Roxas ran towards the smaller blond as he was headed straight for the water. Snow yelled as he closed his eyes expecting to hit the water, but Roxas caught him. The taller blond pulled the tiny blond towards him, wrapping Snow in his arms as Sora surfaced.

"Riku!" Sora spat as he wiped his eyes. "What the hell?"

"I told you to leave him alone didn't I!" Riku snapped. "He said he didn't want to swim!"

Sora looked over at Snow; the smaller blond had his face buried in Roxas's chest and was shaking. Roxas could feel Snow breathing rapidly, as if he were crying.

"Snow?" Roxas said softly, petting the tiny blond's hair. "Hey, it's okay."

Sora got out of the pool and walked over to the two blonds. "Snow? I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you like that."

Snow said nothing and continued to tremble in Roxas's arms. Roxas had a strong, inexplicable urge to kiss Snow's head but quickly dismissed it. "Snow, go sit down on a chair." He said gently.

"O-okay." Snow hiccupped. Roxas pulled his arms away as Snow slowly walked to a poolside chair and sat down. Sora walked over to him as Riku stood next to Roxas with a worried look.

"Snow, I'm sorry." Sora said with a sad expression. "I'm really sorry."

Snow gave Sora a crooked smile. "I-it's okay. I know you didn't mean any harm."

"I really didn't, I just wanted to goof around." Sora replied in a shameful tone. "Can you forgive me?"

Snow nodded and smiled warmly at Sora. "Of course I do."

Sora beamed and hugged Snow tightly. "I promise I'll be a better older brother from now on!"

_Good to know that I'm not the only one who feels the same way about Snow._

Snow laughed. "Older brother?" his eyes sparkled in tears. "Thanks Sora, I'd really love to have an older brother."

There was something strange about Snow's voice when he said that. It was the same heartbreaking tone he had when Snow had spoken about his sister that morning…Roxas looked at the small blond; his eyes were sparkling in tears as he laughed along with Sora.

"Why don't we eat?" Riku said suddenly as he walked over to the table. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm pretty hungry."

"Me too!" Sora said as grinned broadly.

Roxas shook his head. "Sora you're always hungry!"

"Not always!" Sora defended before sheepishly saying, "…just most of the time."

Snow laughed loudly. It sounded like a girl's laugh, but Roxas found it rather adorable. Not that he would ever admit that outwardly. Roxas was happy to see Snow holding onto his stomach as he tried to restrain his laughter but failed, especially when Sora started making facing faces.

About an hour later, the four of them sat by the poolside with their feet inside the water as they all finished eating their meals. Roxas smiled as he looked over at the hillside; their home was located in a small valley of hills, and the sight around their home was breathtaking.

"Anyone up for dessert?" Roxas asked in general.

"What's for dessert?" Riku asked.

"…ice cream." Roxas replied with a small smile.

"What kind?" Riku asked apprehensively.

"Sea salt." Roxas replied. He heard Sora snort and Riku groaned disgustedly.

"I think I'll stick to chips, thanks." Riku said. He got up and took his foam plate and cup with him as he walked to the patio table. He grabbed a bag of Doritos and walked inside the house.

"I'm going for one more dip!" Sora said as he slowly sank into the water. He shivered when he surfaced. "Cold, cold water!"

Roxas rolled his eyes. "What did you expect? You've been out of the water for over an hour!"

Sora blew a raspberry and swam away towards the deep end. Roxas looked over at Snow as the small blond kicked water around with a small smile. "Do you want an ice cream?"

Snow nodded. "Sure!" his voice was noticeably lighter, his rasp was seemingly gone.

Roxas stood up and walked inside the house towards the kitchen. He saw Riku walking down the stairs wearing jeans shorts with a black shirt on and flip flops.

"Is Snow out there still?" Riku asked as he grabbed a glass from a cabinet.

"Yeah." Roxas replied as he took out two bars from the freezer. Roxas looked over at Riku as the silverette walked to the fridge and took out a water bottle. Roxas considered asking Riku about Snow, but decided against it. He watched Riku pour himself some water before placing the half-empty water bottle in the fridge.

"Roxas." Riku said suddenly making Roxas look up at him. "Did you ever find out why Vanitas is here in Radiant Garden?"

Roxas nearly dropped the two ice cream bars at that. "Shit!"

He placed the two bars back inside the freezer and ran up to his room, leaving a bewildered and confused Riku behind. Roxas entered his room and rummaged through his previous clothes looking for his cell. He finally found it inside his jeans pocket and checked the time.

It was 6:06pm, which meant that in Destiny Islands it'd be around 4pm. He quickly dialed a number and waited for an answer.

"Hello?" Came a gentle female voice.

Roxas almost cried hearing his mother's voice. "Mom, it's Roxas."

"Oh Roxy!" Stella cried. "Why haven't you called sooner? I was worried sick about you! Where's Sora? Are you guys eating properly? How's Riku doing?"

"Mom calm down!" Roxas laughed. "We're all doing good and yes, we're eating properly."

"Oh thank goodness!" Stella sighed in relief. "Oh you boys are terrible! You promised to call daily but you didn't!"

"I know Mom," Roxas said apologetically. "Things were a little confusing around here, that's no excuse I know. We really missed you, you have no idea how much I missed you, Mom."

Stella sniffled. "Oh my little Roxy, I missed you too."

"Is Dad around?" Roxas asked hopefully.

"No, he's at work," Stella replied softly. "Otherwise you'd hear him yelling at you for being so inconsiderate!"

Roxas flinched. "I know, and I'm sorry Mom."

"You'd better be." She said in a pouty voice. "Tell me everything that's happened."

Roxas walked out of his room, telling Stella all of the events up to this point, including the contract problems and Snow's inclusion. By the time Roxas stepped out into the patio, he had caught Stella up in everything. Roxas had stopped by the kitchen and grabbed the two bars from earlier and he walked the poolside to find Sora still swimming around while Snow and Riku sat next to each other by the pool.

"Wow," Stella sighed. "That's quite the ordeal you guys faced. But I'm happy to hear that everything's working out for the better and that there's no animosity towards Snow."

"Nah," Roxas replied as he stood right next to the tiny blond in question. "Snow's the little brother of the group."

Snow blushed as Roxas handed him an ice cream bar.

"Aw, so that means I have another son?" Stella cooed. "Speaking of sons, where's Sora? I want to speak to that little boy!"

Roxas grinned. "Okay!" he looked over at Sora who was staring curiously right back at Roxas. "Hey Sora!"

"What?" Sora said as he swam closer to the tall blond.

"Get out of the water," Roxas smiled. "Mom wants to say something to you."

Sora's eyes nearly came out of their sockets as he quickly got out of the pool. Snow handed Sora his towel and he dried his hands before grabbing Roxas's phone. "Mom!"

Roxas briefly heard Stella's cry of joy before Sora walked away to speak to his mother. Roxas sat down next to Snow and unwrapped his ice cream bar.

"Is that really Stella?" Riku smiled.

"Who's Stella?" Snow asked as he took a bite of his bar.

"Stella's is our mom." Roxas replied fondly. "She's Sora's mom, and therefore my aunt, but I call her mom."

Snow smiled gently. "You lived with her?"

"My whole life." Roxas smiled back. "She's the most wonderful person in the entire world. I love her so much." He took a bite of his bar and glance back at Sora.

Sora had his dark blue towel wrapped around his shoulders and his back was facing them, but Roxas didn't need to see Sora's face to know that the brunette was crying. Roxas knew Sora too well; he was a really emotional guy, always wearing his heart on his sleeve.

Roxas looked over at the hills which were colored with the colors of the setting sun and smiled, while eating his beloved sea salt ice cream bar.

* * *

><p>Roxas flipped through the channels hoping to find something to watch. He wasn't a sports fan so he quickly skimmed over all of the sports channels. He looked at the clock on the menu guide, it was almost 10pm.<p>

After the rather heartwarming phone call with his mother, Roxas felt immensely happy. Sora had predictably, cried as he spoke with his mother. Even Riku fought against the tears when Stella demanded to speak with the tall silverette. Snow wasn't left out either, as Stella had told Roxas; she had a new son to mother over.

If Sora had cried, Snow nearly bawled when Stella had finished speaking with him. Snow had handed Roxas his phone back with shaking hands as tears spilled from his eyes. Roxas couldn't blame him; the smaller blond had told him earlier that morning that he had only one living relative, his sister.

Roxas completely understood the feeling; he, after all only had his 'parents' and his two cousins. Even if Vanitas was an absolute asshole, he was still family nonetheless. After the emotional phone call ended, Snow had quietly gone up to his room while the other three lounged around. Roxas looked over to see Sora completely passed out on the floor, drool coming out of his mouth and Riku was sitting on a bean bag reading a book.

Roxas continued to flip through the channels when a loud vibrating sound reached his ears. "Is that your phone?" he asked Riku.

"No, mine's in my room." Riku replied as he set his book on the floor.

Roxas stood up from the leather couch and looked around for the source. He finally found a phone on the second step that lead to the second floor. The phone was white with yellow stars; it was Snow's cell.

Roxas looked at the screen and saw who was calling Snow.

_Naminé…? I wonder who that is?_

He ran up the stairs and looked at Snow's door, before walking towards it. Roxas knocked lightly on the door. When no response came, he knocked on it a little louder, only for the door to open. Roxas looked inside the room; the lights were turned off except for a lamp on Snow's desk. Roxas felt unsure as he walked in without permission, but the phone in his hand continued to vibrate.

_Whoever this person is must really want to talk to him. Wait, what if this person has news about his sister?_

Roxas walked closer to the light and it was then that he noticed that Snow was sitting in front of his desk. Roxas walked over to the smaller blond and gently shook Snow's right shoulder. "Snow, wake up."

Snow mumbled in his sleep, but otherwise it looked like he hadn't heard Roxas.

"Come on Snow, wake up." Roxas said a bit louder. "Naminé's calling you."

Snow stirred slightly and then turned his head towards Roxas, clearly still asleep. Roxas huffed.

_Man this can sleep!_

"Snow wake up!" he said louder, giving Snow a shove.

Snow almost fell of his chair but Roxas caught him, but he dropped Snow's phone. "Snow!" Roxas tried to straighten up Snow when his forearms felt something round. Roxas's eyebrows furrowed as he looked down.

Roxas's eyes widened in shock as his jaw dropped. Roxas fell completely on the floor as Snow fell on his torso; the smaller blond moved and gave Roxas a full view of his front side.

Snow was wearing a spaghetti strap shirt revealing a pair of rounded breasts. Roxas sat frozen in his place, his eyes blinking rapidly unable to tear his eyes away from Snow's bosom out of sheer shock more than male perversion.

Roxas was startled when Snow's phone went off again; it was right beside Snow's ankle. The smaller blond stirred and slowly pulled away from Roxas.

Snow sat up and blinked drowsily at Roxas. "Roxas…?"

Snow's voice was soft and gentle, but most notably, female. _Vanitas was right…Snow really is a girl._

Snow yawned and stretched. "Why are you here Roxas?" Snow smiled at Roxas before realization dawned on her face. She looked down at her chest and gasped. She quickly covered herself and looked at Roxas with a scared look. "Roxas, I can explain."

Roxas snapped into attention and stood up. He began to walk away when he felt delicate hands grabbing his t-shirt. "Roxas wait!"

Roxas turned around and stared at Snow. He looked at her from head to toe; she was truly a girl. "Why? Who? What?" he could barely string a few words.

"Please, let me explain." Snow said pleadingly. "I promise it wasn't my intention to deceive you."

"So why were pretending to be a guy?" Roxas hissed. "Who the hell are you?"

Snow gulped. "My name is Naminé."

Roxas stared. It was the same name on the phone. "What?"

"My name is Naminé Martin." She said. "I'm Snow's twin sister."

"Where's the real Snow?" Roxas asked skeptically. "If you're his 'twin sister', then where is he?"

"Remember what I told you this morning?" she said softly. "About an injured sister? I was talking about him."

Roxas stared. "What?"

"M-my brother…" she hiccupped. "He fell down a staircase on the day the contract was signed."

"Wait, you were the one who signed, not him." Roxas snapped.

"I know, let me explain." She panted as tears spilled down her face. "I signed in his place because he had food poisoning and wouldn't make it to the meeting. Aqua had come to pick him up, but when she told us that if the contract wasn't signed on that day, the contract would be voided."

Roxas stared at her. She wasn't lying; Terra had said the same thing to them about the contract stupid deadline.

"My brother was the one who suggested that I take his place," she said. "He's my only family, so I couldn't let his future slip away. Aqua called Kairi and the three of us met up in a motel to dress me up. And then we went to the meeting and signed the contract."

She sighed shakily. "When I returned home, my brother was about to be taken to a hospital. Aqua and Kairi were there with me when the doctor told me of my brother's hip injury. He hadn't awoken yet, so I couldn't tell him that I had signed the contract."

She bowed her head. "Two days passed and Aqua came to pick me up. I would take my brother's place for him until he recovered. I swore that I'd be careful to not get discovered…and…and…!"

She fell to her knees and sobbed uncontrollably. Naminé wrapped her arms around herself as her tears fell on the carpet below. Roxas knelt down beside her and hugged her. She leaned into his shoulder and cried.

"I'm sorry…!" she sobbed. "I really didn't want to lie to you, but I was afraid!"

"Afraid of what?" Roxas asked gently.

"That you'd h-hate me an-and expose me." She sobbed.

Roxas pulled her away slightly so he could look at her. "I would never do that. You did what you had to do for your brother."

Naminé hiccupped as Roxas used his thumb to wipe away her tears. "Th-thank you."

Roxas gave her a gentle smile. "Does anyone else besides Kairi and Aqua know?"

Naminé nodded. "Xion and Terra also know. Kairi told Xion and Aqua told Terra."

"Well, you can now add me to the list." Roxas smiled crookedly. "That's why you didn't want to get in the pool earlier."

Naminé giggled. "Yeah, I didn't want to expose myself."

Roxas looked at her cerulean orbs, he stroked her soft hair and smiled. "Don't worry, I'll be with you from now on."

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><p><strong>And chapter seven is done! I hope you guys enjoyed it! <strong>**Please leave a review and see you guys next update! Bye bye!**


	8. Drawings, notes and memories

**I'm so sorry it took so long to get this up! I had a few troubles with my internet provider, but hopefully everything's all good to go now. Major, major thanks to all of my reviewers: Soulvepink, SomniumArs, MegaWallflower, Cindy, SiegLord and Loversblackrose! Also thanks to all who have favorited and alerted! You have no idea how much it means to have so much support, that people read this and actually like it! Thank you! 3**

**I do not own Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy or Disney.**

* * *

><p><strong>Drawings, notes and memories<strong>.

**Thursday, May 21**

Naminé sighed as she struggled with herself. Her eyes closed as she fought from giving in to the temptation. She knew it was not right; she had to remain strong, and fight against her desire. Her fluttered heavily as she wrapped her arms around herself, her chest rising slowly. She tilted her head to the side, looking into the sky blue color before her. It was drawing her in…she felt her eyes closing as she finally gave in…

She felt a strong hand gently touching her shoulder, the thumb rubbing against the outer part of her clavicle, causing her skin to erupt in goosebumps. The hand slowly moved from her shoulder to the back of her neck and then to the top of her head. The hand combed through her silky tresses, Naminé sighed as a warm sensation spread throughout her entire body.

"Hey…" said a gentle, masculine voice. "Wake up."

Naminé shifted slightly, she had the strongest urge to feel the hand on her neck again.

"Snow, wake up." Said the voice. "Come on, we're here already."

The hand moved back to her shoulder and gave her a slight shake. Naminé opened her eyes and her eyes slowly gained focus. Roxas was looking right at her with a sweet, tender smile on his handsome face.

"'Bout time." He said. "Come on, we're already here at the offices."

Naminé looked around herself and realized where she was; she was at the back seat of their Cadillac Escalade, her right elbow was propped up and her head had been leaning against it. She saw that Roxas was kneeling right between the two middle seats, close to where her legs were. His face was only a few inches away from her own, and upon realizing that they were close enough for their lips to touch, Naminé blushed.

Roxas patted her shin. "Come on, Snow. We have a song to record today."

"Oh right!" Naminé said. She straightened herself up on her seat as Roxas squeezed himself from between the two seats. Naminé watched as he jumped off the vehicle and turned around waiting for her. Naminé yawned as she walked past the two seats where Roxas and Sora usually sat in. as she neared the opened sliding door she noticed that Sora was outside yawning with Riku next to him, when the two best friends turned around to the main building walkway. Xion was calling to them past the security guards, her hand waving in the air.

"Hurry up you two!" Sora said as he dashed towards the main doors. Riku briefly looked at the two blonds before lightly jogging after Sora.

"Come on!" Roxas said. Naminé nodded as she too, jumped off from the car. She stumbled on her landing and nearly fell flat on her face, but Roxas's lightning reflexes caught her just in time. "Whoa, careful!"

Naminé chuckled as she straightened herself. Roxas smiled at her before they turned around and sprinted in the main building's direction. When the two caught up with Sora, Riku and Xion, the raven haired girl smiled.

"You guys are going to the third floor of the second building. Your instruments are all there, so you guys can prepare." Xion said. "Terra is already at the studio along with Celes, so you guys have to hurry."

"All we're doing today is recording the song, right?" Sora asked.

"That's all on the schedule for now," Xion said slowly. "But, you never know if anything else comes up. Now go!"

The four of them waved goodbye to Xion as they walked past the main lobby. Naminé then noticed a long pathway on the second floor that was identical to the pathway on the fourth floor that led to the second building.

"We should go that way." She said as the others followed her.

"Anyone have a clue about where the recording studios are at?" Roxas asked. "I mean besides the general direction Xion gave us?"

"They're close to the end of the third floor hallway." Riku replied. "Snow and I saw them there yesterday."

"But aren't the stairs on the other side?" Sora asked. "I never noticed another set of stairs from this direction."

"They're close by." Naminé smiled. She turned around and they came to a spiral staircase. They walked up to the second floor landing and saw a door. Naminé opened the door and the four of them walked onto the second floor.

"Oh I see why I never noticed these stairs." Sora said. "They were hidden behind the door. I thought the door lead to another room or something.

"Which way now?" Roxas asked looking right at her, causing her cheeks to barely light up.

"That way." Naminé smiled as she pointed to long walkway.

"Hey, we can walk that way to the other building." Sora grinned.

"That's the idea." Riku said.

Naminé noticed Riku looked completely uninterested. His eyes were distant, almost sleepy. When he felt her eyes on him, he looked down at her. Naminé smiled brightly at Riku, he looked at her momentarily before the corners of his mouth curved upwards.

The four band members finally arrived at their destination a few minutes after walking across the long walkway. When they entered the room, they were surprised to see such a large room. There were monitors and other electronics on a wide table where Terra and Celes sat. There was another man there; he had wavy silvery blond hair, pale skin, and delicate features. His right eye was almost completely blocked by his hair, but Naminé could see his left blue eye, so it was safe to assume that he had two blue eyes.

"Good morning, guys." Celes smiled at the four.

"Are you guys ready for today?" Terra grinned. "You'll get to finally record your song."

"Woo!" Sora beamed.

Everyone laughed as the silvery blond haired man stood up. "Hello everyone, my name is Edward Chris von Muir." He held out his hand which all four shook. "I am a lyricist for the company, but I am also a composer. You will be recording your song today in that booth behind the glass."

He pointed to a door in the far end of the room, and it was at this point that Naminé became aware of the large glass window above all the monitors. She looked at the window and saw a large room where a drum set was in the middle of the room, with three different guitars leaning against the bass drum. Right in front of the instruments were three microphones that were spaced out and a microphone that hanged right above the drum set.

"Go ahead and take your instruments." Edward smiled.

The four of them walked past him, Celes and Terra and entered the room. Naminé immediately recognized the guitar she would be playing; the rhythm guitar. On the previous night, after Roxas had discovered her secret, Riku had walked up to her room and knocked on her door. When she asked if something was wrong, he replied that he had remembered that he was supposed to teach her the song, but had forgotten. After she had gotten dressed, Naminé walked downstairs and found Riku in the parlor with a rhythm guitar and for about two hours, the two worked hard on getting her to memorize the song.

Naminé wasn't entirely confident that she had gotten the song right, as playing an acoustic guitar and a rhythm guitar was rather different. But when she had played the song for Roxas last night, he had given her positive feedback, giving her an extra confidence. She walked up to her midnight black guitar and marbled at how shiny it was. The long handle and the strings looked absolutely brand new; she threw the strap over her right shoulder and centered the large guitar on her left side so she could play with her right hand. She looked up and saw that both Roxas and Riku were testing the strings before tuning them to their liking. She looked behind her and saw Sora grabbing the drum sticks and twirling in his fingers before lightly tapping the ride cymbal. He then started to randomly hit the other drums before slowly finding a beat. It took Naminé a few seconds to realize that the beat he was drumming was the beat to the song; the song that she had heard when they played at their audition.

She felt a pang of guilt that she didn't mention that to Roxas the previous night. After he agreed to not tell anyone of her secret, Naminé had remained safely nestled in his arms without saying a word as he had stroked her hair gently before Riku knocked on her door. Naminé blushed slightly when she remembered the sensations she had felt when she was in Roxas's arms; she had felt warm, safe and tranquil. Her head had been resting against his chest, and the beating of his heart almost lulled her to sleep.

"You hoo, earth to Snow! Come in space cadet!"

Naminé looked up and saw Sora grinning at her. "Sorry!"

"Glad to have you back cadet." Riku smiled. "Are you worried about playing the rhythm guitar still?"

"Err, yeah, a bit…" she mumbled. "I'm just scared that I'll mess up somehow."

"Don't think like that!" Sora said in mock anger. "But then again, if Riku had been my teacher, I'd be worried too."

Riku raised an eyebrow at Sora. "So says the guy who can't play a guitar to save his life."

Sora stuck his tongue out and continued to play the song's beat. Naminé looked over at Roxas who was plugging in his guitar to a large speaker-looking thing. He looked absolutely concentrated in his guitar as he strummed a few notes. The sound reverberated from the speakers and boomed all through the room, Roxas made an apologetic expression and tuned his guitar again.

"Hey guys?" Terra's voice echoed in the room. The four musicians turned to look at the glass window and saw the older brunette smiling at them. "We're all set over here, so let's us know when you're all good to go."

"OKAY!" Sora yelled happily.

Riku walked up to Naminé and plugged in a cable at the bottom of her guitar and walked behind Sora's drum set. He came back shortly; his own bass guitar had a cable in the bottom. "Okay, try playing some notes."

Naminé strummed a few notes and they too, reverberated throughout the room much like Roxas's electric had done. She looked at the strings and remembered which notes she was supposed to play, so she did. Naminé kept playing the song as she had learned it from Riku and when she looked up at the silverette, she saw him smiling proudly. Even Sora stopped playing his drums and looked at her in approval. Her eyes found Roxas, his expression was soft, and a small smile was on his lips.

She stopped playing and looked downwards at the floor, hoping that none of the guys had noticed her rapidly growing blush.

"We're ready Terra!" Roxas yelled and Terra nodded.

Naminé looked up and took a deep breath; Riku moved beside her and gave her an encouraging smile, Roxas walked between them and took the center mic, then turned to give her thumbs up. He then looked over at Sora and nodded. Naminé deeply inhaled as she walked closer to her microphone and exhaled. Riku and Roxas strummed a few chords while Sora played a drum rolled before he stopped.

"One two three four!" Sora yelled, while hitting his drum sticks together.

Naminé had a flash back to the night of their audition, when she had seen them for the first time, before all four of them played in unison. Roxas began to sing the song and Naminé did her very best to focus on playing the song.

They played for a bit and were almost done, when they heard Celes's voice coming from the PA system. "Guys, stop for a minute."

The four of them stop playing and looked at one another in utter confusion.

"Why am I only hearing Roxas and Riku sing?" she asked sternly. "Sora, Snow, I believe I told you guys to sing as well."

Sora groaned and Naminé sighed. She really didn't want to sing in anyway whatsoever. There was no way on earth she could ever sound convincingly male while she sang, her excuse for regular speaking barely worked.

"Fine…" Sora pouted.

Naminé's breathing picked up, her nerves, which she didn't have previously, had come in full force. She felt her heart rate speed up considerably, making her lips tremble. She closed her eyes and squeezed them shut, her left hand gripping her guitar's handle.

A warm hand gently grabbed her shoulder making her eyes open. Roxas smiled at her before he leaned in and whispered softly in her ear. "…you can do it, Naminé."

His warm cheek softly caressed her own as he moved away, beaming at her. His sky blue orbs seemed to be able to see into her soul, and she swore her heart stopped beating. In those few seconds, a spell had been cast between the two; even after he was no longer touching her, even as he walked away back to his place, she could feel as if something was tying them together.

Roxas nodded at Sora as Naminé tried to regain her focus.

_I'll just sing in a lower tone, and hopefully pass it off for falsetto._

Sora hit his drumsticks together one more time. "One two three four!"

They began playing again in perfect unison, Roxas began the song and when he got to the chorus, not only Riku joined him, but Sora who had a really nice singing voice, joined in.

And so did she; making her voice as deep as she could, and not singing the high notes.

About two hours later, the four of them sat in the cafeteria, eating the breakfast they had had to skip out on earlier that morning. Naminé was absolutely delighted with her deli sandwich and orange juice. Sora, who sat in front of her, was eating his waffles with absolute zest, taking periodic sips from his own chocolate milk. Riku, who was sitting on Sora's right side and her left side, was eating a chicken club sandwich and his lemonade in completely bliss. At her right side was Roxas, eating a farmer's omelet, hash browns and his favorite, raspberry iced tea. He looked completely immersed in his meal, and she understood him.

They had woken up at 4:30am, this time by phone call from Kairi. She had called Sora to tell them to get to the studio before 5:15am, making all four of them rush to get ready. All four of them had bags under their eyes, and really looked like they needed more sleep. It didn't help that had all gone to sleep at 1am, after Riku had finished teaching Naminé to play 'Disguise'.

"I can't believe that took two hours to do." Riku muttered before taking a sip of his lemonade.

"How come at the audition we sounded so awesome, but here we kept screwing up?" Sora asked with a slightly full mouth.

"I guess that day we were on an adrenaline rush," Roxas reasoned. "And today, well, I'm pretty sure all of us were nervous."

"I know I was." Sora said. "Especially after Celes told me and Snow to sing."

"At least you didn't have to continuously stop to drink water…" Naminé bowed her head and looked at her lap. She had strained her voice because she kept trying to make it deeper during the song. "I'm so sorry, you guys."

"Don't worry about it." Riku said reassuringly, ruffling her hair. "She called me out a few times, too."

Naminé looked up and gave him a weak smile. _At least for now I won't have to fake my voice, I have a natural rasp because I over did it._

"She yelled at me, too." Roxas said. "When we got to the song's bridge, she said my voice was flat remember?"

Naminé nodded and quickly avoided looking into his eyes. She felt that if she looked at his eyes directly, her heart would begin to beat erratically.

"Hey guys!"

The four of them turned to see Aqua approaching them, she was wearing her workout clothes again and Naminé couldn't help but notice how much men would stop and stare at the curvaceous bluenette as she walked to their table. Roxas, Sora and Riku were not immune either.

"Terra told me you guys just recorded you song." She said with a soft smile. "How was it?"

"We kept messing up." Riku replied.

"That's to be expected, no one's perfect." Aqua said wisely. "Don't take it to heart, though, just learn to be better for the future."

Naminé looked at Aqua. The tall bluenette was so caring, like an older sister or a mother. "Thank you, Aqua."

The bluenette turned and smiled lovingly at Naminé, and then she bent downward and hugged the small blonde. Naminé looked down at the floor; it was only at this moment that she remembered Mrs. Potts, her mother figure. Aqua turned back to speak to the guys, while Naminé got out of her seat and walked out of the cafeteria. She pulled out her cell from her sweater and looked at her phone book. Roxas had told her that someone had called her last night, and that it was under the name Naminé.

She knew that the caller was Mrs. Potts, and Naminé was mentally beating herself up for not calling back. Mrs. Potts could have had news on her brother and Naminé was just now calling! Naminé walked out to the fourth floor pathway that connected the two buildings and leaned against the rail.

She dialed the number under her own name and waited for an answer.

"Hello?" said a soft elderly voice.

Naminé's eyes blinked in tears as soon as she heard Mrs. Potts's voice. "M-Mrs. Potts?"

"Naminé? Is that you, my dear?" Mrs. Potts's voice broke. "Oh thank goodness! I feared that I had written the number you gave me wrong! How are you, sweetie?"

"I'm fine." Naminé rasped in her normal girl voice. "I'm so sorry I didn't call you back last night!"

"Oh now, don't you worry darling." Mrs. Potts's voice was so light, that Naminé could easily picture her matron with a smile. "I was just calling to tell you that your brother wanted to talk to you, I was in the hospital with him last night."

"How is he doing?" Naminé said as she wiped away her tears on her sleeve.

"He's doing fine," Mrs. Potts said reassuringly. "He does give the nurses a bit of trouble when they give him large doses of pain killers, though."

Naminé laughed as her mind formed an image of her brother talking absolute nonsense to the nurses who tended him. "He's better alright."

"And you my dear? How have you been?" Mrs. Potts voice took the same tender tone that Aqua's voice had a few minutes ago.

"I'm doing fine, we just finished recording our first song." Naminé replied.

The two spoke for several minutes while Naminé brought Mrs. Potts to the latest events, except mentioning that Roxas had discovered her secret, before Mrs. Potts had to leave and ended their conversation. Naminé wasn't even sure why she had opted to not inform her mother figure, it was only natural that she told Mrs. Potts everything, right?

_No, if I tell her, she'll worry even more. She'll probably think Roxas will blackmail me into something, but he's not like that…far from it. Roxas is so wonderful to me; he's kind, gentle and understanding. He'd never do anything like that to me._

Naminé felt her heart beat slow down, her mind filled with images of Roxas's smile, his eyes and his face. Her mind quickly flashed back to the very first time she met him, on the day of his audition. How her runaway water bottle brought them face-to-face, and when they touched hands as he helped her straighten up. Naminé looked at her free right hand and smiled; maybe it was her, but she could almost feel the warmth of his hand on hers.

She felt her phone vibrating in her left hand, causing her to jump slightly. She looked at her phone and saw that she had a text message.

_I wonder if it's from Roxas…_

Her heart beat picked up as she unlocked her phone and then opened her message.

**Riku: Hey, are you okay?**

Naminé couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed that the message was from Riku and not Roxas, but shook off the thought and reasoned that she should be feeling grateful that Riku was worried about her.

**Snow: I'm fine, I just had to make a call, that's all.**

**Riku: Where are you?**

**Snow: I'm out in the pathway between the buildings.**

**Riku: I'm on my way.**

Naminé smiled at his last message. In many ways, Riku reminded her of her brother; neither was very talkative, they mostly kept to themselves and had quite the dry humor. But above all else, they were both caring men.

* * *

><p>Roxas poked at his omelet leftovers. Naminé had left without saying a word to anyone, and Roxas had barely registered her absence until Riku had brought up that "Snow looked really upset when he left". Roxas took a large gulp from his tea and continued to stab his food. He wasn't upset that she had left wordlessly; he figured she must have had her reasons for doing so. What was really bugging him was that Riku was the only one who thought to text her to see if she was okay. Even Aqua had noticed that Riku was 'such a nice guy because he had ran off to find Snow'.<p>

Didn't Roxas tell her that he'd look after her? Wasn't it Roxas and not Riku who was supposed to look out for her?

"Wow, Riku isn't being subtle is he?" Sora said after gulping down his remaining chocolate milk.

"What?" Roxas momentarily stopped stabbing his food and looked at his cousin.

"He wasn't really trying to hide his worry for Snow was he?" Sora said. "It's becoming more obvious that he likes Snow. I mean, he like likes Snow."

Roxas gripped his fork. _Calm down, Roxas. Neither Sora nor Riku know that Snow is actually a girl._

_Why am I so worked up for anyway?_

Roxas looked at his cousin and saw that Sora was rapidly texting on his phone and raised an eyebrow. "Lemme guess, you're texting Kairi?"

Sora blushed and grinned sheepishly. "Yup! She wanted to know how the recording session went."

"Ah." Roxas turned to look at his food and loosened his grip on his fork. "Tell her it was terrible because you kept missing the beat."

"Hey!" Sora lightly punched his cousin's shoulder before replying to a text.

"What do you think Riku might be thinking?" Roxas asked in a low tone.

Sora raised an eyebrow, but he kept texting. "Hell if I know, I can never guess what goes through his head."

"But he's your best friend." Roxas said before taking another gulp of tea.

"That doesn't mean we share a psychic link and read each other's minds." Sora said. "The only thing that is for sure is that Riku is into Snow, so either he's still questioning his sexuality or he's embraced that he's gay."

_Wait, Riku doesn't know Naminé's secret…he doesn't know that she's a girl and…he's not gay._

"Sora…do you really think Riku is gay?" Roxas looked at his cousin as Sora's eyebrows disappeared into his hair line.

"I do now. Especially given how he's so attentive towards Snow." He put his phone on the table. "I mean, you and I care for Snow like a little brother and all, but Riku is overly attentive, like how he treats girls."

Roxas puffed his cheeks before he burst into a fit of laughter, making Sora jump in his seat.

_Oh man, I feel sorry for Riku! He's probably put himself through mental torture about his sexuality! Poor guy doesn't even know he's really straight!_

"Are you okay?" Sora asked warily.

Roxas's laughter died after a few seconds and he cleared his throat. "Yeah, I'm fine."Sora gave Roxas a worried look before he resumed his text conversation with Kairi.

"Hey Rox," Sora said after a few minutes. "Kairi wants us to meet her in this building's third floor."

"Right now?" Roxas asked before drinking his remaining tea.

"After we've finished eating breakfast." Sora replied.

"Well I'm done, and the other two already left, so I say we're good to go." Roxas said as he gathered the empty plates on the table so the kitchen staff would take them.

"Yeah, I don't think you could murder your omelet any further." Sora snickered.

Roxas looked at his plate and saw that his omelet had been reduced to smaller pieces. _Did I really get that upset?_

The two cousins got up from their seats and walked out of the cafeteria and into the fourth floor hallway.

"Where are we meeting Kairi again?" Roxas asked as his eyes scanned the area.

"In the third floor of this building," Sora said. "But first we have to find the love birds."

Roxas looked at Sora confusedly. "Who?"

"The love birds, Riku and Snow?" Sora said as if it were obvious whom he was talking about.

Roxas snorted. "Oh those two."

Sora narrowed his eyes at Roxas suspiciously. "Yeah…those two."

Roxas continued to look around the area hoping to see either Riku or Naminé. He knew that the probability of the two of them being together was high; Riku hardly ever took his eyes off her. Roxas still found it funny how Riku was falling for someone who he believed was a male, but in reality, Riku was still a heterosexual man.

"I just texted Riku." Sora said and Roxas turned to face him. "They're standing in the pathway."

Roxas looked over at the long pathway where sure enough, the tall silverette and the small blonde stood. They were talking animatedly, Naminé made several gestures with her arms as she spoke. Riku then pat the top of Naminé's hair, ruffling her blonde tresses.

_Poor guy, he's probably convinced himself that he's gay for her._

Roxas tired his hardest to not laugh outwardly as he watched the two. It was then that Naminé spotted him and waved merrily and Roxas waved back at her. She had a bright smile on her face; her cheeks were slightly red as she looked at him. She walked past Riku and made her way over to Roxas, her large cerulean blue eyes completely light with inexplicable joy.

"Hey!" she said in her raspy 'manly' voice. Now that he knew her secret, he found it hard to believe that she had actually fooled him into thinking she was a legitimate guy with a severe throat infection.

"Everything okay?" he asked in a low voice so that Sora wouldn't hear. "You left without saying anything."

"I'm sorry about that." She said softly. "I returned the call from last night."

"The call from your brother?" he remembered that her phone had her name on the screen the previous night.

Naminé nodded. "He wanted to say hi and see how I was doing."

"Ah, I see. How is he doing?" Roxas smiled.

"He's fine, giving the nurses some trouble." She chuckled. "I'll tell you more later."

Sora approached the two and placed a hand on Naminé's shoulder. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I just had to make a phone call, that's all." She said gently.

"Just remember that I'm your big brother and you can always come to me if you need something. Okay?" Sora grinned at her as she laughed.

"Thank you, Sora." Her eyes watered a bit but they all turned when Riku approached them.

"Should we go?" Riku's voice was rather calm and relaxed. "We don't want to keep Sora's girlfriend waiting."

Sora's cheeks turned scarlet. "R-right!"

They walked down towards the third floor and looked around for the red haired girl. They found her leaning against a wall with her cell phone in hand.

"Kairi!" Sora called. He ran up to her as she used her foot to push herself away from the wall and beamed at the energetic brunette.

"There you are!" she laughed before they hugged. The two stared into each other's eyes momentarily before Riku ruined the moment by clearing his throat rather loudly. Sora looked over his shoulder at his best friend and narrowed his eyes at Riku.

Kairi broke away from Sora and hugged the other three with a tint of red in her cheeks. "Now that the song has been recorded, we have to work on your image."

"Image? What for?" Roxas asked as he shoved his hands inside his jeans pockets.

"Well, there are different types of fans out there, so we need to dress you guys in order to reach to the masses." Kairi explained. "For example, in pop music, there's usually several types that are always present; a bad boy with all of the sex appeal, the mysterious nerdy guy, a sweet loveable one, things like that."

"You mean stereotypes." Riku deadpanned.

Kairi flinched. "Don't put it that way. Think of it as being pleasing to the fans, that way you guys can build your own individual fanbase."

Roxas raised an eyebrow as Kairi walked over to a door and opened it, motioning for the four of them to follow her. The room was wide and had a large hair dresser with four individual mirrors and seats in front of the dresser. The border of the mirrors was adorned with various light bulbs to provide better lighting; Roxas assumed that this is where hair and makeup would be done. On the far end of the room were three changing stalls and close to them was a sitting area with lounge couches and coffee tables. Roxas noticed a familiar figure sitting on one of the couches with a notebook on her lap.

"Hi again!" Xion smiled. The other four gave her their replies as Kairi walked over to the sitting area.

"Come and have a seat." Kairi said as she sat on the same love seat as Xion.

Roxas suddenly remembered that Axel had said that the two were sisters, and they really did look alike now that he took a closer look. The same eye shape, the same eye color, same pink lips and nose. If they had the same hair color, they'd be twins. But one thing still stood out to Roxas; the girls didn't share the same last name.

Sora sat down on the seat closest to Kairi, while Roxas sat next to him. Naminé sat on the seat available next to Roxas and unsurprisingly, Riku sat next to her. Roxas stared at Riku while the silverette was smiling at Naminé.

Something inside Roxas didn't like that Riku was so close to her, that he smiled so tenderly at her.

_Hold on, I used to think that Snow was like a little brother. But she's really a girl, so that means my feelings must have shifted from 'caring for a little brother' to 'caring for a little sister'!_

Roxas inwardly sighed and looked away from Riku to Naminé; she had turned from facing Riku to facing Roxas. She immediately smiled when their eyes met and Roxas was certain that it was just him overreacting to his brotherly feelings for her.

"Okay guys, tell us about yourselves." Kairi smiled at the four. "What types of things do you like in clothes, what would you love to wear, what you don't mind wearing, and what you would never wear no matter how much Munny someone paid you."

"Wow, that's awfully specific." Sora laughed. "Um…I guess I like wearing casual stuff like jeans and t-shirts."

"You need to elaborate on that Sora." Xion said as she wrote something on her notebook. "Like, what types of jeans? Loose-fitting, skinny, or wash-faded?"

Sora's brows furrowed as he thought over his answer. "…I dunno."

Roxas sniggered, Naminé laughed and Riku shook his head. Kairi covered her mouth with her hand to hide her laughter while Xion blinked at Sora.

"What? I have no idea! I just wear whatever!" Sora said defensively.

Xion turned to face the other three. "Do you guys know what you'd wear?"

"I second Sora's answer." Riku said with a shrug. "I don't really think about what I wear, I just throw on clothes."

"Same here." Roxas said. "Especially in the morning when I'm half-asleep and I can barely think."

"What about you Snow?" Xion asked hopefully.

"Um…"Naminé twiddled her thumbs. "Loose-fitting clothes?"

Kairi laughed loudly while Xion hung her head.

"We're gonna have to do this differently." Xion sighed. "Let's base their clothing style or their personalities instead."

Kairi grinned. "Or we could base it on their looks and physique." She stood up from her seat and looked directly at Riku. "Stand up for a second Riku."

The tall silverette looked confused but did as he was told. Kairi walked up to him and took a closer look and then placed her hands on his torso. Sora's jaw dropped as Roxas and Naminé held back their laughter.

"Hmm…" Kairi hummed as her hands roamed down Riku's biceps. Riku blinked in confusion as her hands moved down to his abdomen and pulled his shirt upwards. Roxas noticed that Xion's cheeks turned a bright pink when Riku's toned abs were exposed.

"I know how we're gonna dress you!" Kairi smiled as she pulled his shirt back down. "You're going to be the guy in charge of the sex appeal; you'll wear the tight-fitting clothes so that your sculpted body will always be noticeable. Also, sleeveless shirts so the fangirls can get an eyeful of your muscles!"

She walked away from Riku as Xion hastily wrote on her notebook. Riku sat back down on his seat with an odd look on his face, like if a baby picture of him had been passed around the room. Kairi walked over to Roxas and smiled at him pointedly.

"Get up Roxas." She said.

Roxas pursed his lips before he stood. He felt immensely awkward as Kairi's ocean blue eyes scanned him from head-to-toe. Much like Riku, Kairi lifted his shirt and looked at his abdomen, but unlike Riku who didn't do anything; Roxas pulled his shirt back down and frowned.

"Sorry." Kairi said, taking a few steps away from him.

Roxas said nothing and continued to stand there as Kairi kept looking at him.

"I got it!" Kairi snapped her fingers. "You'll be the quiet mysterious guy; you'll wear casual clothes with an edge to them, occasionally we'll have you show some skin."

Roxas didn't oppose the idea, as long as he didn't have to be shirtless or wear shorts. He sat back down and looked at Xion who gave him a thumb up and wrote the things Kairi had said. The redhead then turned to face Sora, who eagerly stood up, much to everyone's amusement.

"Oh Sora, I know exactly how we'll dress you." Kairi sighed dreamily. She cupped Sora's face with both of her hands and caressed his cheeks with her thumbs. Sora's blush increased as his hands slowly rose to Kairi's waist. "You're the adorable one! So you'll wear loose-fitting clothes and have a wide array of colors!"

Sora blinked as his hands fell to his sides. "A-adorable?"

"Yup!" Kairi beamed as she took a few steps away from him. "I really can't see you as anything else but completely adorable!"

Roxas and Riku burst in laughter. _Poor Sora! No guy ever wants to be called adorable, much less by the girl he's trying to impress!_

Sora sat down on his seat with a deflated look on his face. Kairi tilted her head and crouched so that she was on level with him.

"What's wrong?" she asked worriedly.

Sora quickly changed his expression and grinned toothily at her. "N-nothing! I was just thinking that that style fits me to a T!"

Roxas shook his head. _Oh Sora._

Kairi squealed happily as she stood up and then turned to face Naminé. "Snow, you're the quite one, so you'll wear conservative clothes. I'm thinking long sleeved shirts, scarves, and loose-fitting clothes! Oh, and warm colors to express your shyness."

Roxas inwardly grinned. Yes, Naminé was shy but now that he knew her identity it was easier to see why Kairi was choosing those types of clothes for Naminé. He looked over at the blonde sitting next to him and smiled. He really had to keep an eye out for her; she couldn't risk getting caught and being exposed. Roxas turned to face Kairi as the redhead sat back down in her seat next to her sister.

"Did you get everything?" Kairi asked Xion as the raven haired sister finished writing on her notebook.

Xion nodded. "Yeah, pretty much it all comes down to Snow being the shy one, Sora being the adorable one-" Roxas noticed that Sora rolled his eyes at that. "-Roxas is the mysterious hot guy, and Riku is the sexy one." Xion's cheeks completely turned red when she said that last one.

"Okay, we're all done!" Kairi beamed. "Now I can start planning ahead for next week's photoshoots."

"Don't forget tomorrow's conference." Xion reminded her.

Kairi waved her dismissively. "That's already taken care of."

"Okay then." Xion sighed. She turned to face the four of them and smiled. "I gotta get going on making sure the reservations are done, so I'll see you guys later!"

She stood up and walked out of the room as Kairi got up and sighed. "Hmm, you know, I think I should go with her…"

"Reservations for what?" Riku asked.

"Oh reservations for the photoshoot on Wednesday at the Great Fountain." Kairi smiled. "We're saving up the whole area for us, that way no civilians will be around during the shoot."

"You're closing off a public area for our photoshoot?" Roxas raised his eyebrows. "Is that allowed?"

"Yeah, it's been done before." Kairi said nonchalantly. "Besides, we'll only be there for an hour and a half, so it's no big deal. Anyways, I better go with Xion. You guys stay here, I'll be right back!"

She jogged to the door and was gone in seconds. When her footsteps were no longer heard, Sora let out a puff of air.

"Adorable? Seriously?" he fumed. "Why not cute? At least that would work!"

"Don't take it so personally," Roxas said, trying to hold back his laughter. "It's just the idea behind the clothes."

"But still!" Sora insisted. "Adorable was fine when I was a little kid, but not now!"

"You're not a little kid? Sure had me fooled." Riku snickered.

"Oh ha ha ha." Sora snapped.

"I think it suits you Sora." Naminé rasped. "You're a really sweet guy and very caring."

Roxas raised an eyebrow. _Uh oh, that's not something any guy would say…she really is a girl._

Sora raised an eyebrow. "Thanks?"

Roxas shook his head and pulled out his cell and texted her.

**Roxas: You shouldn't say stuff like that.**

Naminé jumped in her seat when her phone vibrated. She pulled her cell out of her sweater pocket and her brows furrowed when she saw who was texting her. She placed her phone on her chest so that the message couldn't be easily seen by Riku.

**Snow: Why not? It's true!**

Roxas chuckled.

**Roxas: Guys don't say that stuff to each other. Ever.**

**Snow: Really? What should I do?**

**Roxas: For now, leave it as it is. You don't want to dig yourself deeper.**

**Snow: Okay, but…could you teach me how to think more like a guy?**

Roxas stared at the last text. _Think like a guy? Um…_

"Are you guys texting each other?" Sora asked. He had moved from his previous seat to sit where Xion had been sitting, which was next to Roxas.

"No, I'm texting Xion." Roxas replied with certainty.

"I'm texting Kairi." Naminé said unconvincingly. Roxas mentally face palmed; Sora _might_buy that, but Riku definitely wasn't.

Roxas looked over at Riku and oddly enough, the silverette narrowed his eyes in suspicion. Sora leaned back on the couch and yawned loudly. Naminé put away her phone and nervously looked around the room, Riku's eyes kept shifting over to Naminé every now and then and Roxas got up and stretched.

He looked over at the large hair dresser and noticed several sheets of white paper on one of the dressing tables. He walked over to the table and noticed the vast amounts of makeup products on each table, along with hair products. He grabbed the sheets of paper and then heard something dropping; he looked at the floor and saw a pen. He picked it up and walked back to the sitting area.

He placed the papers on the rectangle coffee table in the center and took one sheet. He began folding it into a paper plane before he threw it in the direction of the dressing stalls. The paper plane didn't even make it past Sora's couch before it fell unceremoniously on the floor.

"Wow, that was weak!" Sora laughed.

"Let's see you do better!" Roxas grinned competitively.

Sora straightened up and grabbed a piece of paper and began folding it haphazardly. He then threw his in the same direction that Roxas had thrown his paper plane. Sora's plane hit the couch he was sitting in.

Roxas laughed. "Ha! My plane did better than that!"

"Watch, this next one will be better!" Sora said and quickly began to fold another piece. Roxas took another paper and quickly folded a second plane.

These two planes went a little further than the previous two, actually managing to get past Sora's couch. But unfortunately, neither Roxas nor Sora could tell which plane belonged to whom and argued over the plane that had flown the farthest.

Naminé tried her hardest to refrain from giggling outwardly; covering her mouth with her hands seemed to always help. Riku walked over to the table and took a piece of paper and folded his own plane.

"You guys suck at making good paper planes." He said with a confident smile. "Watch this."

He threw his plane and it flew much farther away than any of the planes made by the two cousins, it even hit one of the dressing stall's door.

Sora rounded at Riku. "Hey, no fair! You won a paper plane competition when you were fifteen!"

"That shows you how good I am." Riku said smugly.

Roxas rolled his eyes. "Show off."

"I wouldn't be the only one, right Roxas?" Riku crossed his arms.

_He's still on that? Damn, this guy won't let it go, will he?_

"Jump up my ass Riku." Roxas hissed.

"No thanks, I don't swing that way." Riku replied dryly.

Sora blinked confusedly. "But I thought you did."

"What?" Riku said, his eyes nearly popping out of his sockets.

"I'm kidding!" Sora hastily replied.

Riku rolled his eyes and he sat back down next to Naminé. "Funny, Sora, really funny."

_What did he mean he doesn't swing that way? He thinks Naminé is a guy, he doesn't know her secret!_

Roxas grabbed another piece of paper and slowly folded another plane. _Hold on, the way Riku acts around Naminé is as if he was treating a girl…_

Roxas looked over at the silverette. Riku and Naminé were talking as he handed her a paper and the pen Roxas had brought. Riku smiled warmly at her as she began scribbling something on the paper. When she held the paper up for him to see, he looked very impressed and ruffled her hair again.

_Does Riku somehow know…? Did she tell him or did he find out like I did?_

Roxas looked at the tiny blonde as she continued to scribble on her paper happily, while Riku's expression changed from admiration to a soft, loving look.

_He knows, somehow he knows._

Naminé looked up and caught Roxas's eye and beamed at him.

_He's interested in her because he knows she's a girl. He likes her._

A strong burning feeling began to grow in the pit of Roxas's stomach. Riku had never treated Naminé as a sibling; he had treated her like a girl. Or rather, like a woman. A woman he was becoming romantically interested in. The fire in Roxas began to grow; he glared at Riku and clenched his fists, completely ignoring the paper plane in his hand.

"Guys look!" Naminé's raspy voice broke through his thoughts. She held up her paper and Roxas blinked.

She had drawn the four of them with silly expressions; Sora had his mouth open wide, Riku had a slight frown, Roxas himself had a crooked grin and she had drawn herself with a sweet smile. The caricature version of themselves had big eyes, large heads with even bigger hair and tiny bodies. But the most impressive part was that she had done it all in pen.

"Wow, you drew that?" Sora beamed as he moved closer to Naminé.

"He did it just now." Riku replied, his voice laced with adoration.

"Do you guys like it?" she asked shyly.

"This is amazing!" Roxas grinned at her. "You're really talented; I can barely draw stick figures."

"Me too." Sora pouted.

"I can't even draw a stick figure." Riku said, blowing his bangs out of his face.

"How long have you been drawing?" Roxas asked as he sat down on her arm rest.

"Since I was little." Naminé said fondly. "I picked up a pencil one day and I drew my bro-my sister."

Roxas looked at her; she had meant to say brother but quickly caught her mistake. Her cerulean orbs became glossy as she wrote their names above their cartoon versions. Her handwriting was absolutely beautiful, much better than his chicken-scratch. She dated it at held it above her head for all to see.

"We should frame it!" Sora said excitedly.

"But it's just a doodle." Naminé said.

"It's hardly 'just a doodle' compared to what we can draw." Riku said softly.

Naminé blushed and looked downward as Sora took the drawing from her hands. Roxas looked at her, he could tell she was trying to hide the fact that she was about to cry. He placed his hand on her head and ruffled her hair, causing her to look up at him.

Their eyes locked and Roxas's fire vanished, replaced by a tranquil sensation that washed over him. Roxas looked into her cerulean orbs and blinked.

_Wait her eyes…that girl from the pizza place!_

She tilted her head when he frowned and placed a tender hand on his hand. "Roxas?"

His mind kept flashing back to the day when the contract had been signed. Kairi and Aqua had left with Snow, and then at the pizza place was a redheaded girl, a tall woman with a blond wig, and then the other blonde who nearly slammed the bathroom door in his face.

_The same heart-shaped face, the same large blue eyes, same pink lips…it's Naminé! She was that girl! And Kairi was the one who dragged her out, so Aqua must have been the one wearing the wing._

His mind focused on the panicked expression of the blonde from that night. Her hair was the same shade as Naminé's, but it had been much longer; it had draped to her shoulders.

_So that's what Naminé really looks like…she's beautiful._

Roxas turned back to look at Naminé. Her large round eyes were focused on him, with a slightly confused look. Roxas smiled at her and she instantly smiled back.

Roxas heard the door opening and Xion walked in. "Hey guys. Since you already recorded your song you can take the rest of the day off."

"Seriously? Woo!" Sora punched the air, causing the others to laugh.

"We should hang out together." Roxas said to Xion. "You and Kairi should come over to our house."

"I'd like that, but Kairi and I don't get off until 1pm." Xion replied sadly.

"What time is it now?" Sora checked his phone and frowned. "Man, it's barely 9am."

"What should we do in the mean time?" Naminé asked.

Sora placed a finger on his chin thoughtfully. "Hmm…"

"We could just go home and catch up on some much needed sleep." Riku yawned.

"I second that motion." Roxas replied. "We'll be more awake by the time Kairi and Xion come over."

"There you go," Xion smiled. "I'll tell Kairi that we're going to your house for dinner then."

Sora beamed. "We could watch movies after dinner!"

"Sounds like a plan!" Xion said happily. "We'll see you guys later!" she walked out of the room and left the door ajar.

"Shall we go?" Riku asked as he stood up.

Even though he said it in general, Roxas knew that the question was mostly for Naminé. The point was further proven when he held out his hand to help her get up. Roxas's inner fire had been reignited.

On their ride home, Riku and Naminé took the back seat while the two cousins sat in their usual places, right in front of the back seat. Roxas was tempted to keep his eye on Riku but felt that he'd be too obvious and instead focused on their conversation.

"I'm really jealous of your drawing ability." Riku said. "I wish I knew how to draw like that."

"It's not very hard," Naminé replied serenely. "You just need to continuously practice and have lots of patience."

_And sadly for Riku, he's far from the patient type._

"Would you teach me how to draw?" Riku's voice was dripping in a smooth tone that added fuel to Roxas's inner fire.

"Of course!" Naminé replied happily. "Oh…"

Roxas clearly heard her tone changing from excitement to disappointment. He looked over at his shoulder and saw her fiddling with the zipper of her jacket.

"What's wrong?" Riku asked tenderly.

"I don't have any art supplies…" she whispered. Roxas felt terrible for her, drawing clearly meant a lot to her.

"I have this…" Riku pulled out a few pieces of paper from his jacket pocket and a pen. Roxas recognized them as the stuff they had in their dressing room. "Will this do for now?"

Naminé beamed. "Yes, this will do just fine."

Roxas looked away; he was becoming more suspicious of Riku by the second. He felt his phone vibrating in his jeans and pulled it out to see who was texting him.

**Sora: and here Riku said he doesn't swing that way. what a liar, huh?**

**Roxas: He's full of shit.**

**Sora: O_O …um…**

Roxas closed his eyes for a moment. _What's the matter with me today? Maybe I just need to sleep._

* * *

><p>Naminé was the last one to get out of the car as they arrived home. Sora yawned loudly as he quickly opened the front double doors and walked inside. Naminé walked behind Roxas as the blond trudged on, she could tell something was bothering him.<p>

"Are you okay?" she asked him in her raspy voice.

Roxas looked at her. "Yeah, I'm just tired."

"Well, you can go get some sleep right now." She smiled.

"That's true." He smiled weakly.

The two entered the house as Naminé closed and then locked the door behind her. She noticed Sora running up the stairs; no doubt he was headed for his room. Riku seemed to linger about momentarily, placing sheets of paper and the pen on a table in the living room. He shook his head and he too, walked upstairs and went to his room.

Roxas sighed in aggravation and walked to the kitchen. Naminé watched as he grabbed a water bottle from the fridge and drank all of its contents. He then placed the empty bottle on the kitchen counter and walked over to her. His sky blue eyes and her cerulean orbs were locked until Naminé became aware of the blush that was spreading in her cheeks.

"We've met before, haven't we?" Roxas asked.

Naminé looked up at him. "Yes, we have."

"At the pizza restaurant." He said. "You almost smacked the bathroom door in my face."

"I'm sorry about that." She said apologetically. "We were trying to leave quickly, so that you guys wouldn't put two and two together and realize that I had signed the contract."

"I figured as much." He said tiredly. His eyes looked at her and he smiled. "Well, I now know what you really look like."

Naminé blinked. "What do you mean?"

He moved closer to her and her heart's rate picked up. He leaned in so that his mouth was right by her ear, his breath making the hair on her neck rise.

"I know what you look like Naminé." He whispered. "Not as Snow Martin, but as Naminé Martin."

She realized what he meant and she blushed deeply. "O-oh…"

He locked eyes with her as his hands gently stroked her short hair. "Your hair was really long, right?"

She nodded when her voice failed her.

"You're beautiful, Naminé." He said in a tender voice. "You look really cute in a dress."

The beating of her heart had reached its highest speed; she feared that it would leap out of her chest. She dared herself to look up at him and saw the warm expression on his face.

_What is this feeling? Why is my heart pounding like this?_

Roxas let go of her hair and smiled again. He walked over to the living room and grabbed a piece of paper and pen that Riku had left on a table. He wrote something on it and then placed the pen back on the table.

"I think we have a mouse in the house." Roxas said.

"We do? How do you know?" Naminé asked as she walked closer to him.

"Because all of my sea salt ice cream is gone." He said in mock indignation.

Naminé giggled. "And the mouse's name is…?"

"Sora, who else?" Roxas scoffed. "Riku hates sea salt ice cream, and you didn't eat it right?"

Naminé shook her head. "The only bar I had was the one you gave to me yesterday."

"Right, so that just leaves one more person." Roxas grinned. He showed her the paper that had all capital letters and a lot of exclamation marks.

"Um…" she hesitated. There had to be a way of telling him that she couldn't read his handwriting without offending him. "Um…"

Roxas raised an eyebrow. "It says 'You're buying next time'."

"Oh!" she looked closely at the paper and frowned. She could barely distinguish the word 'buying' from the rest of the scribbling.

"You can't read it huh?" he said dejectedly.

Naminé shook her head. "No, I'm afraid I can't."

Roxas looked at the paper and pursed his lips. "I'm not surprised; a lot of people can't read my handwriting at all. You should teach me how to write like you."

Naminé giggled. "I'd love to." She took a paper and the pen and wrote the same thing Roxas had written on his paper, before handing it to him.

"Gee, way to make me feel insecure about my penmanship Naminé." He said in a hurt tone, but she knew he was kidding. "You made it with all fancy and whatnot."

"That's my normal writing." She said shyly. "It's a mixture of printing and cursive."

"This is _normal_?" he asked incredulously. "Wow, I really have a long way to go."

"Just practice." She smiled as she placed the pen back on the table.

Roxas huffed. "Yeah, just give me about five years. But I'll put in some extra effort just for you."

He walked upstairs and she followed him. He stopped in front of Sora's door and slipped his paper under the door, before the two walked over to their rooms.

"I didn't give him the one you made because he'd know it wasn't from me." He told her as they neared their rooms.

"I know." She said serenely.

"Hey, there's something I need to talk to you about." He said seriously. "Do you mind if we talk for a minute?"

"Sure." Naminé opened her door and let him inside her room, closing the door behind him when he stood in the center of the room. "Um, do you mind if I get changed first?"

"No, go ahead." He smiled.

"Make yourself comfortable." She walked over to her dresser and looked through her drawers, debating on what to wear. _Should I dress as myself or should I wear guy's clothes?_

She grabbed a t-shirt and then wrapped a bra underneath the shirt. She walked over to her closet and searched through her clothes for anything summery. She stopped moving her clothes when her eyes fell on a powder blue strapless summer dress. _Should I wear this? Roxas already knows my secret anyway…and he said I looked cute in a dress…_

She felt her cheeks warming up and grabbed the dress. She walked into her bathroom and quickly took off her sweater, her t-shirt, her jeans, and her sneakers. She looked at her reflection and frowned; she was wearing her binding wrap, making her look completely flat. She undid the wrap and removed it letting her breasts relax before she put on her bra. Naminé was glad that in her haste, she had luckily picked out a strapless bra which would suit her dress. She put on her dress and combed her hair with her brush, but sadly those silly hairs wouldn't stay down. She was about to open her door when she suddenly felt nervous.

_Don't be silly Naminé; he's already seen you as a girl. Twice, even if he only remembers one time._

She opened her bathroom door and walked out to find Roxas sitting on her bed, texting rapidly. He looked up when he heard the door closing behind her and his eyes widened. She lowered her head as her blush spread through her cheeks, but she could still feel his eyes on her. Naminé walked to her bed and sat beside him with her head bowed.

"Wow…" he whispered.

"S-so, what did you want to talk about?" she dared herself to look up at him.

He blinked as he seemed to regain his thoughts. "Oh-oh! Um, I wanted to talk about Riku."

She felt disappointed for some reason. "Riku?"

"Yeah." Roxas said with more conviction. "Naminé, did you tell him your secret?"

Naminé panicked. "No! You're the only one that knows Roxas!"

Roxas sighed. "I think he might have figured it out."

"How? Why do you think that?" she asked worriedly. Had he really found out? Did Riku really put the pieces together like she had suspected?

"It's the way he acts around you." Roxas said solemnly. "You're supposed to be a guy, but Riku doesn't treat you as such. He treats you like the girl that you are."

"I wondered if he knew, too. Like you said, he acts differently around me." Naminé buried her face in her hands. "Am I that obvious?"

"Now that I know your secret, yes." He said. "But before I knew, I didn't think you were. I thought that you were just a really shy and caring kid. The possibility of you being a girl never crossed my mind."

Naminé looked up. "Really?"

He took one of her hand and softly rubbed his thumb on the contour of her hand. "Really. In fact, whenever the mere idea of you being a girl came up, I thought it was ridiculous."

Naminé blinked. "Who suggested that idea? Riku?"

Roxas sighed heavily. "Vanitas, Sora's older brother. He said that he knew a girl when he saw one."

Naminé's free hand clutched her heart. "He said that?"

Roxas nodded. "He's someone you need to avoid at all costs. He tried to force himself on Kairi yesterday."

"He what?" Naminé gasped. "Why would he do something so barbaric?"

"He's sick and demented." Roxas said darkly. "He's a sex fiend, any woman he finds appealing, he wants to fuck."

Naminé flinched. "What does he look like?"

"…Sora," Roxas said quietly. "Except he has black hair and wears yellow contacts."

Naminé's eyes widened. "He l-looks like Sora? I can't even imagine that."

"Most people that know Sora and have never met Vanitas can't imagine it either, but it's true." Roxas said in a low voice. "He's probably still in the city, so we need to be careful."

Naminé couldn't help but notice how he said 'we' and not 'you'. "Thank you, Roxas."

Roxas gave her hand a light squeeze. "Don't worry about it. I'll be there for you."

Naminé let go of his hand and hugged him. She didn't even have to think about hugging him, her body moved on its own, as if it were a natural reaction. Roxas wrapped his arms around her and gently stroked her hair. She could feel her heart beat accelerating as she looked up at him, his sky blue orbs looking right into her cerulean ones. He brought a hand to cup her face and with his thumb he stroked her chin, slowly moving to her bottom lip. Her heart fluttered and her stomach felt like millions of butterflies were inside. She closed her eyes as something touched her lips gently...

Naminé opened her eyes and blinked at her surroundings. She had no clue of when or how she had fallen asleep. She sat up and saw that she was quite alone in her room, her door was even locked.

_Did I dream that? Was my imagination really that overactive that I dreamed that Roxas was in my room and that he…?_

Her hand shot to her lips as her cheeks were set aflame. _Did he kiss me? Did I dream it, or did he really kiss me?_

She looked down at herself and saw that she was wearing her powder blue dress. So she had changed her clothes, but did the kiss happen? She got out of her bed and looked at her room for any signs that Roxas had really been there; that she didn't dream up that he had been in her room and that they talked about Riku and Sora's older brother.

She looked over at her bedside table and saw that her clock said that it was almost 1pm. She had been asleep for a little over three hours. Her eyes fell on her dresser as something picked her attention.

Naminé walked to her dresser and her heart leaped with joy when she saw a brand-name professional art pencil case and a thick hard-covered sketchbook next to the pencil case. There was a folded paper on top of her sketchbook. Naminé took the paper and unfolded it, revealing a message written in pen. The handwriting was neat, legible, and was slanted to the right.

_**Here's a gift for you, I hope you like it.**_

_**I practiced.**_

Naminé set down the note and then picked up her new sketchbook and opened the hard cover. There was another message written on the first page.

_**Enjoy!**_

_Roxas…he said he would practice and he did!_

She smiled tenderly at the message and closed the cover, then put the sketchbook down on her dresser. A warm and fuzzy feeling spread through her entire body and she felt inexplicably giddy. She was tempted to go find Roxas and thank him for the gift…and hug him.

There was a knock on her door and Naminé walked over to it, placing her hand on the knob. She was about to open her door when she remembered that she was still wearing her dress. "Who is it?" she asked in her raspy voice.

"It's Roxas."

Naminé beamed; she quickly fixed her dress and hair before opening the door. He smiled at her as he walked in and she closed the door behind him.

"You should change your clothes." Roxas said with a slight smile. "Xion and Kairi are here. We're all gonna head out and grab some lunch."

"Okay." She smiled back. She wanted to thank him for the gifts, but mostly she wanted to ask about…the kiss. "Um…thank you."

He blinked. "For what?"

"For the gifts you gave me, of course." She said happily. She walked over to her dresser and grabbed the pencil case and sketchbook. She handed him the note and smiled warmly at him. "I see you put some effort in your penmanship."

Roxas stared at the note and chuckled. "Yeah."

"It's very nice handwriting and very easy to read." She said encouragingly.

Roxas put the note in his pocket and grinned at Naminé. "Anyways, you should hurry and change, we wanna leave before lunch hour is over." he ruffled her hair before he began to walk away.

Naminé placed her things down on her bedside table as Roxas neared her door. She then ran up to him, her heart fluttering like a humming bird's wings. _Ask him about the kiss! You can do it Naminé!_

"Um, Roxas?" she murmured.

Roxas stopped in his tracks as he placed a hand on the door knob and turned to look at her. "Hmm?"

_Just ask him!_

"Did we…uh, did we…" she closed her eyes, trying to find the courage to ask him about the kiss. She had to know if it really happened, and if it did happen, then why did he kiss her? "Did we…did we fall asleep together?"

She cursed herself for not having the courage to as the question she really wanted to ask.

Roxas smiled. "Yeah, we did. But I woke up at around 11am. I didn't want to wake you, so I let you sleep."

Naminé blushed as she mentally pictured herself sleeping in Roxas's arms. "Oh sorry."

Roxas chuckled. "No need to apologize, it's not like you were heavy."

Naminé giggled as her eyes met his. "Good to know."

She was startled when he reached out and cupped her face. Her heart hammered at a 100mph, her cheeks burning brightly. A warm feeling spread throughout her entire body before his hand pulled away and he opened her door and then walked out of her room. She touched her cheek where his hand had been and smiled before changing her clothes to what she had been wearing in the morning.

About three hours later, the six of them had eaten lunch at a nearby restaurant and then they went to a nearby ice cream parlor. As it turned out, Riku wasn't the only one who didn't like sea salt ice cream; Kairi wasn't a fan of it either. From the ice cream parlor they walked around the city for about two hours and then they decided to head back to their home and enjoy the rest of the day.

During the entire time, Naminé couldn't help but notice how Roxas and Xion seemed to 'click'. They had so much in common, and the majority of the time, Roxas and Xion talked to each other. Naminé felt a strange sensation creeping over her whenever she saw the two of them laughing.

The two had ran inside a grocery store and came back out a few minutes later with grocery bags and laughing hysterically. Naminé realized that Roxas had bought more ice cream bars when Riku made a disgusted face. On the ride back home the two sat at the back seat next to her. Naminé felt strange sitting next to them, it was like she was a puzzle piece that didn't fit.

They arrived at the house and immediately Roxas and Xion put away the ice cream bars, Sora and Kairi walked into the pantry and pulled out some bags of chips, and Riku grabbed a soda from the fridge. The five of them were conversing amongst themselves, making Naminé feel excluded. She lowered her head down, but then she felt something cold on the top of her head. She looked up and saw that Riku had place a canned soda on her hair.

"Here, you like orange soda, right?" he smiled.

"Yeah." Naminé replied. She took the soda from him as she saw that Kairi was serving chips into a large blue bowl.

"So what do we do now guys?" Kairi asked before eating a cheese puff.

"I wanna watch TV." Riku replied.

"I wanna watch a movie!" Sora grinned.

"I wanna play video games." Xion smiled, earning a skeptical look from Riku and an impressed look from Roxas.

"You play video games?" Riku asked incredulously.

"Does she ever." Kairi said before eating another cheese puff. "If she didn't have a job, I think she'd spend all day playing Mario Kart."

Riku's eyes widened at Xion. "You play Mario Kart?"

Xion smiled sheepishly. "I don't like to brag, but…I'm pretty good."

"Really?" Riku asked with a smirk. "I'll play you all the circuits on the Wii version."

"You're on!" Xion smiled.

"Okay, this I have to see!" Sora grinned. He ran into the living room and Naminé could hear him turning the TV on and then the Wii. Riku and Xion walked past her and Naminé watched as the two sat in front of the TV set on bean bags. Unlike when the guys had played the fighting game, this time, Riku and Xion were using the Wii controllers.

Naminé walked over to the leather couch that was against the wall and sat down. Sora and Kairi sat on the love seat next to where Naminé was sitting, Kairi placed the big bowl of chips right between them. Naminé watched as Riku and Xion selected playing rules before selecting their characters. Xion picked an adorable baby girl named Baby Daisy with brown hair, a pacifier in her mouth and she was wearing an orange and yellow dress. Riku picked an equally adorable baby boy named Baby Luigi with a big green cap, a big nose, and he was wearing a green shirt and overalls. Next they chose their vehicles, which the both chose the same motorcycle which was apparently called Magikruiser.

They then selected which area to race in and Naminé was surprised at how adorable the babies sounded when the race began. Baby Daisy was on the top half of the screen and Baby Luigi was on the bottom half. The babies began to throw various objects across the screen; red turtle shells, green shells, banana peels, red boxes and other things. Naminé wasn't entirely aware of what was happening when there was a blue explosion and Baby Luigi was shot into the air.

"I hate Spiny shells." Xion said. "But I love it when they hit you and not me."

"You threw that?" Riku asked. "Oh, now you're gonna get it."

"Bring it on then!" Xion said confidently.

"How long have you had this game?" Naminé asked Sora then she took a sip of her soda.

"Eh, I'd say for about two years." Sora replied before grabbing a fistful of cheese puffs.

"I've never seen Xion be this competitive before." Kairi said thoughtfully.

"I think it's Riku," Sora said with a playful grin. "He has that effect on people."

"I heard that!" Riku hissed, never taking his eyes off the game.

"Good, then I won't have to repeat myself!" Sora blew a raspberry.

"Who's winning?" Roxas asked as he entered the living room. His ice cream bar was gone and in his hand was a soda. He walked over to the couch were Naminé sat and took the seat right next to her. "My munny's on Xion."

_Xion again…_

"Thanks Roxas." Xion said happily. "I'm currently in the lead."

"For now." Riku said with a smirk. "Just you wait, missy."

"If you say so Riku." Xion had a small smile on her face.

Twenty minutes had passed and the two had played various races, each one winning points for their individual victories. The last race was taking place in quite a scary location; a rainbow road. It had odd twists and turns and it was just terrifying despite its pretty background colors. There were many more explosions, they fell off the road, they crashed into the other characters, and it was insane. After enduring three laps on the track, Xion threw her arms up in victory.

"Woo!" she beamed.

"You suck at playing Mario Kart Riku!" Sora threw a cheese puff at the back of Riku's head.

Riku turned around and threw it right back at Sora. "Like you can do any better!"

Naminé turned to Roxas, he shook his head. "Oh boy, here we go."

Sora's jaw dropped. "Oh yeah? Okay, you and me, Riku! One on one!"

He was getting up from his seat when Kairi grabbed his arm. "Sora, I wanna watch a movie!"

Sora blinked at her. "Can we watch after this match? It'll be just one race."

"Bullshit." Roxas said. "Don't believe him Kairi; they'll keep going, and going, and going, and going…"

"No we're not!" Sora hissed. "I swear, just one race!"

"You're only lying to yourself Sora." Riku smirked. "You know that Roxas is right."

"Please Sora?" Kairi pouted. "For me?"

Sora looked down at her and smiled. "Okay, we'll watch a movie."

He sat back down when Kairi quickly hugged him. "Yay!"

"Let's watch a scary movie!" Sora grinned.

Kairi let go of Sora instantly. "No! I hate scary movies!"

"What?" Sora laughed. "But they're awesome!"

"No they're not." Kairi crossed her arms. "They're all the same, and then I have nightmares at night."

"Kairi, there's different types of scary movies." Roxas told her. "There are psychological thrillers, paranormal, and then there are the pointless bloodbaths."

"The gory ones disgust me." Xion shuddered.

"I prefer psychological thrillers myself." Riku said. "I like to be kept guessing."

"I like the paranormal ones." Sora grinned. "My favorite is the Sixth Sense."

"Ooh, that's a good one." Xion smiled. "It scared the crap out of me when I was a kid."

Kairi blinked. "I don't think I've seen it."

Sora's eyes widened. "You've never seen it? Okay, we have to watch it now!"

"I'm surprised you haven't seen it, Kairi." Roxas's eyebrows were disappearing into his hairline.

"That movie was a big hit ten years ago." Riku added.

"I've never heard of it either." Naminé said quietly.

Roxas looked at her in surprise. "Really? Wow."

"That settles it; we're watching the Sixth Sense!" Sora grinned excitedly.

Riku turned off the Wii and then turned on the Blue-Ray. He grabbed a movie from a stack on the shelf next to the TV stand. He loaded the disc in and grabbed the corresponding remote. He turned and offered Xion a helping hand which she took and stood up from her bean bag. Riku grabbed their bean bags and tossed them against the wall. Xion sat in the space next to Roxas while Riku sat beside her.

Naminé noticed that Xion had a slight blush on her cheeks when Riku smiled at her. Naminé felt Roxas nudging her and she looked at him. His eyes were looking in Sora and Kairi's direction so Naminé followed his line of sight. She saw that Kairi had an apprehensive look on her face, while Sora placed the bowl of cheese puff on the floor in a sneaky manner.

* * *

><p>Thirty minutes into the movie the movie and Roxas shifted in his seat, the movie had reached the point where some little kid has a birthday and Cole is invited. He looked over at his surroundings; Riku was watching the movie intently, Xion was leaning against Riku in slight fear. Roxas doubted Riku had even noticed Xion's proximity. Roxas looked down at Naminé; she had both hands balled up in front of her mouth. She was downright sacred. If he and Naminé would have been the only ones watching the movie by themselves, Roxas would have taken Naminé in his arms. He would have held her close and gently stroked her hair. He felt her jump slightly and he turned to look at the screen.<p>

Cole had been placed in a small room on the top of the stairs, screaming loudly.

"Somebody get the boy out of there!" Kairi yelled at the TV screen. "How can they not hear the poor baby?"

"Because it's a party and there's music playing…?" Sora said with a raised eyebrow.

"Those two boys are jerks!" Kairi hissed. "I want to smack them so bad!"

Xion shook her head. "Kairi, it's just a movie."

"I don't care!" Kairi snapped. "God, someone get Cole!"

Roxas heard Xion sigh in aggravation, Riku snickered and Roxas chuckled. Naminé kept her eyes glued to the screen; she and Kairi both sighed in relief when Lynn got Cole out of the small room.

Roxas watched as the movie neared the infamous scene where a memorable line would be uttered.

"I see dead people." Sora whispered gravely at the same time as Cole.

Kairi jumped and turned to face Sora. "Don't do that!" she whimpered. She sank back down on the cushions. Roxas nearly laughed outwardly when he saw Sora looking at Kairi out of the corner of his eyes. Since Kairi's eyes were focused on the TV screen, she was completely unaware that Sora was trying to the classic 'over the shoulder' move. His arm was slowly moving closer to her, and it took all of Roxas's strength to hold in his laughter.

Roxas moved in his seat enough to draw attention from the other three sitting in the same couch. When they looked at Roxas, he jerked his head in Sora and Kairi's direction. Sora was still trying to place his arm over Kairi's shoulders, while the red haired beauty averted her eyes from the screen. Roxas quickly looked at the screen; it was the scene where the ghost that had a bullet hole in the back of his head appeared.

Roxas was startled when Kairi shrieked as the bullet-hole-ghost kid popped up. Beside him Naminé squirmed, hiding her face on his sleeve. Roxas's eyes widened a bit when Kairi buried her face in Sora's chest. Sora blinked rapidly; as if trying to grasp what just happened, his arms slowly lowering from the seat cushions. Sora's expression changed; he must have realized that having Kairi be like that was better than trying (and failing) to place his arm around her shoulders.

The brunette wrapped his arms around Kairi's frame; he then looked up at the ceiling and mouthed the words 'thank you'. Roxas heard Xion giggle and Riku snickering, they too must have been watching the love birds.

Roxas looked down at Naminé; she was keeping her eyes on the movie while her left hand gripped his sleeve. Roxas was completely over come with a strong desire to hold her the same way that Sora was holding Kairi. But he knew he couldn't…he mustn't. He looked away from the small blonde, the girl he was developing a very strong attachment to.

_Why am I feeling this way towards her? I shouldn't, if my feelings grow, it could be troublesome in the future._

The movie ended and Riku stood up again and took out the movie disc from the Blue-Ray.

"Did you like the movie, Kairi?" Riku smiled.

Kairi sighed. "It was so good, but it's really scary."

"That's the point." Xion said with a giggle. "Do see what I meant when I said that this movie scared the crap out of me when I was a kid?"

"Yes, thank god I didn't see this movie as a kid." Kairi shuddered. "I wouldn't have been able to sleep!"

"What time is it?" Sora asked no one in particular.

Riku pulled out his cell from his jeans and checked. "It's gonna be 7pm."

"Wow, today went by fast." Roxas yawned. "You guys wanna see another movie or what?"

"I'm hungry." Naminé said quietly. She let go of Roxas's sleeve and straightened up in her seat. Roxas noticed that Riku had seen her pull her hand away from Roxas's shirt and narrowed his emerald eyes.

Roxas was about to open his mouth to reply to her, but Riku beat him to it. "What do you want to eat, Snow?"

"Um, anything is fine with me, I just want to eat food." She meekly replied.

"Hmm, I'm craving some KFC…" Xion mumbled. "I think there's one nearby."

Roxas stood from his seat and held his hand out to Xion. "Let's go Xion!"

She took his hand and got up with a wide grin. "Okay!"

They left the house and Roxas drove the Cadillac Escalade a few blocks away from the house. "Should we get a 12 piece meal?" he asked her as he parked the car.

"I think we should get more than that," Xion replied. "There are six of us, and I don't think two pieces for each person will be enough."

"Especially Sora's bottomless pit for a stomach." Roxas chuckled. "So let's get two 12 piece meals, then."

"That sounds about right." She said as he turned off the car.

"Hey Xion…?" Roxas said hesitantly.

"Yeah?" she smiled.

_Should I ask her? This isn't exactly the time much less the place, but…_

"Are you and Kairi sisters?" he asked quietly. "It's just that you two look so alike…"

"We're half sisters." Xion replied. "We have the same father, but different mothers."

Roxas furrowed his brow in confusion. "How far apart in age are you?"

Xion sighed. "A year."

Roxas stared. Their father had to have committed adultery in order for the girls to be a year apart. "What happened?"

Xion looked down at her hands and exhaled deeply. "Our father, Izumi, married Kairi's mom, Nanami at his father's request. Nanami was from a relatively well known family here in Radian Garden, they owned the Oathkeeper restaurants chain. Our grandmother, Michiko, is a descendant from one of the founders of this city, so it's kinda like being royalty. "

"Does that make you and Kairi princesses?" Roxas smiled.

"Kairi's the princess, not me." She said quietly. "Our father wasn't happy with his marriage to Nanami; she was over-bearing, demanding and self-centered. She only cared about social status and even regarded her pregnancy as a burden. She never had another child because she didn't want to ruin her figure."

"What a bitch." Roxas muttered. "I'm glad Kairi is nothing like that."

"Kairi's greatest fear is to be like her mother when she herself becomes a mother." Xion replied solemnly. "I don't blame her, honestly."

"So, your dad was unhappy with his marriage, so he cheated?" Roxas frowned. "Why didn't he just get a divorce?"

"Because Kairi was already on the way and he didn't want her to grow up in a broken home." Xion said softly. "But he hated his wife; he was still in love with his childhood sweetheart. He only married Nanami because of his father."

"That childhood sweetheart…" Roxas said quietly. "Is that your mom?"

Xion nodded. "They had separated when he attended the most prestigious school, but they met again shortly after he married. They met up several times and they realized that they still had strong feelings for each other."

"Did your mom know he was married?" Roxas asked. He couldn't imagine any self-respecting woman would ever put up with being the 'other woman', no matter how much she loved a man.

Xion exhaled. "She knew. She knew very well that he was already married and that his wife was expecting his child."

Roxas's eyes widened. "And she was okay with that? She was okay with being the other woma-"

"Don't you dare call my mother the other woman." Xion fiercely said. "My mother was never the other woman, she was the only woman. My father never loved Nanami, he only loved my mom. So there was no one else besides her. Nanami was just someone he lived with and deeply disliked."

Roxas mentally kicked himself. "I'm sorry, that wasn't something I should have said."

"Just don't say it again." Xion told him.

Roxas nodded. "Does Kairi's grandma know that you exist?"

"Actually, Kairi and I live with her." Xion faintly smiled. "My father and my mother rekindled their romance, and I'm the result of it. I was born four months after Kairi had her first birthday and my father would regularly visit me and my mother. He would even bring Kairi along with him whenever he could."

"Was he too busy to bring Kairi or what?" Roxas asked.

"No, it's just that Nanami wanted Kairi to be and actress, a dancer and a singer, so she would constantly have Kairi in some theatre workshop for kids. My dad would make random excuses to get Kairi away; like he was taking her to the park, taking her to buy ice cream, stuff like that. As Kairi got older, my dad asked her to not tell her mother about my mom and me."

"Why did he take Kairi?" Roxas mentally kicked himself again. _Man, I sound like an asshole!_

"My dad was thrilled that Kairi had a sister, since Nanami didn't want to get pregnant again, he feared Kairi would grow as a lonely child." She said with an air of fondness. "When I was three, we were told that we were sisters, and that we had to always stay by each other's side. Even though we were both little, we knew what that meant, and we were stuck together like gum on a shoe."

"Sounds familiar." Roxas smiled. "Sora and I are the same way."

"We used to play outside in my backyard everyday…" Xion said reminiscently. "My mom doted on Kairi, she never made a distinction between us; to her, Kairi was her other daughter. Kairi would sometimes even call my mom 'mom'."

"I bet your mom loved that." Roxas smiled. "So how did your grandma find out about you?"

Xion's expression changed from reminiscent to depressive. "When I was five, my dad brought Kairi over to my house to celebrate my mom's birthday. After dinner, he left to go buy a cake, Kairi and I stayed with my mom." Xion hiccupped. "A-about an hour later, we got a call from the Light of Heart hospital. A lady told my mom that my d-dad had b-been ran over."

Roxas's eyes widened in shock as Xion turned away from him. "What…? Xion, I'm so sorry."

"It had been a hit-and-run." Her voice cracked. "He was crossing the s-street when it ha-happened."

Roxas rubbed Xion's back comfortingly. "Xion…"

"I me-met my grandma at th-the f-funeral." She sobbed. "She was so k-kind; sh-she didn't hate me or my mom." Xion breathed shakily and tried to control her voice. "It was at the funeral that Nanami found out about my mom and me."

"She didn't dare say anything against you and your mom did she?" Roxas felt his anger rising at the thought of Kairi's mom insulting Xion and her mom.

Xion laughed bitterly. "How could she not? She screamed that my mother was a whore, that she had only slept with my dad for money, and that I was a bastard child."

Roxas's jaw dropped. "That- that fucking whore!" he was absolutely livid; he couldn't believe that Kairi's mother was such a horrible excuse for a human being.

Xion turned around and faced Roxas; tears were cascading down her cheeks and her lips quivered. "I didn't understand why she hated me so much; I was only a five year old. I ran away into the woods behind the cemetery, I wanted to disappear; I wanted to vanish from everyone's life. I wanted to die and for all memories of me to be erased from all who knew me. I remember I tripped on a raised root of a tree, I fell on the ground and cried there."

Roxas could barely imagine a tiny five-year old Xion wanting such a terrible fate for herself. He took her in his arms, his own tears threatening to fall.

"I don't know how long I laid there in the grass." She hiccupped. "But at some point, I heard Kairi calling my name. When I looked up, I saw her running towards me, crying hysterically. She told me that she feared I had gone with dad, that she would never see me again. When I told her that that's what I wanted, she slapped me. She yelled at me to never wish for my own death again; she told me to remember the promise we had made to our dad: that we'd always be together."

"And you did, you kept your promise to your dad!" Roxas said softly.

"It wasn't easy, but we did." Xion sighed. "Nanami took Kairi away and we went for almost ten years without seeing each other. I was fourteen when I saw my sister again; she had emancipated herself from her mother and our grandma was now her legal guardian until she turned eighteen. Her mother had become so furious with Kairi that she disowned her completely. To this day, Nanami hasn't spoken to Kairi once."

"I'm sure your mom treats Kairi much better." Roxas smiled.

Xion remained quiet for a few seconds before she broke down completely. "M-my mom…she die-died when I w-was si-sixteen…!"

Roxas closed his eyes, his tears streaming down. He knew that feeling, even though his parent had died when he was small, the loss of both his parents still hurt him.

"My gr-grandma too-took me in." Xion sobbed. "I've b-been liv-living with her and K-Kairi since then."

Roxas now completely understood why Axel was so protective of the two sisters. Roxas and Xion jumped when Roxas's phone went off. Xion pulled away from Roxas and wiped her tears on her dress, while Roxas checked his phone.

**Sora: hey, are you guys on your way back?**

**Roxas: No, not yet. There's a line.**

**Sora: oh okay!**

"We should go get the food," Xion sniffled. "I bet they're starving."

Roxas nodded. "I'll go get the food, you can stay here."

"I'm fine, I just need to wash my face that's all." Xion gave him a weak smile.

Roxas wasn't too convinced but nodded. The two got out of the car and slowly walked over to the restaurant. Roxas looked over at Xion and placed his arm around her shoulder.

"I'm happy that you didn't die like you had wanted to." He said with a smile.

"Really? And why is that?" she smiled back.

"Who else would I have ice cream with?"

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><p><strong>And that's chapter eight! Again, sorry for the delay! I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, don't forget to read and review!<strong>

**See you next update! :3**


	9. The Premiere Part One

**Hello all! Here is the next chapter for your enjoyment! I was originally going to leave this as one chapter but it would have been over 20k words alone! So, I decided to rewrite most of it and split it in two parts, hence the delay. I apologize to you all, and if I haven't replied to your messages, I'm not ignoring you! Much love and appreciation to all of my reviewers, as well as all who favorite and alert this story, I love you all!**

**I do not own Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy or Disney.**

* * *

><p><strong>The Premiere Part One<strong>

**Friday, May 22**

He sat at the dinner table enjoying his Fruit Loops cereal in silence. He was wearing a grey shirt and black pajama bottoms, his feet covered by his slippers as his iPod played music in his ears. He looked outside the nearest window; he found it hard to believe he had woken up at 7am, so he watched TV for about an hour or so before deciding to eat.

After Roxas and Xion had brought back the chicken for dinner, the six of them watched a few more movies. At some point Sora got to race against Riku like he had wanted, with Kairi acting as Sora's personal cheerleader. In the end, Sora won which caused Riku to demand a rematch, something that Sora did not oppose to. Xion and Roxas ended up joining in the race but under the team battle rule. Sora and Riku teamed up, with Xion and himself being the red team.

Unfortunately, the blue team won, as Roxas was a dismal Mario Kart player, he hardly ever played the game and it showed. Roxas kept going in the wrong direction or falling off precipices, much to everyone else's amusement. Normally that would have bothered him, but Roxas found himself laughing along with them, and at himself. At around 9pm the two sisters took their leave, advising to the band members to get some rest for the coming day.

Roxas sighed as he got up from his seat and walked into the kitchen, turning his iPod ff and leaving it on the counter before he began to wash his plate. He placed his plate on a dish rack and then dried his hands on a towel on the counter, then grabbed his iPod and turned it back on. He leaned against the counter and looked around in no particular direction.

_Today's the press conference; today's our official announcement. I can't believe this is all real; that this house is 'mine', that we just recorded our song yesterday, and that today the world will know about us. It feels like a dream._

He walked towards the living room and frowned slightly. There had been a KFC bucket left behind on the love seat, Roxas knew that it had been his cousin who had left the bucket behind. He walked over to the love seat and grabbed the bucket before heading back into the kitchen and throwing the bucket in the trash. Roxas turned off his iPod and that's when he heard a knock on the door. He walked over to the parlor and looked outside a window.

Terra was in front of the door dressed in casual clothes. Roxas walked to the door and opened it, letting Terra walk in.

"Good morning Roxas." The tall brunet smiled. "How are you today?"

"Hey Terra." Roxas replied, closing the door behind Terra. "I'm…anxious."

"I see that." Terra chuckled. "Are the others awake?"

"I don't think so." Roxas murmured as the two walked into the living room. "If they were awake, they'd be downstairs at this point."

"It's not that early," Terra said in slight amusement. "But then again, you guys have been getting up earlier these last couple of days."

"The only reason why I even woke up at this hour is because of my nerves." Roxas admitted. "I just wish we could get this over with quickly."

They stopped at the foot of the stairs as Roxas circled his mouth with his hands to give his voice an echoing effect. "HEY! WAKE UP!"

Roxas waited a few moments before he heard a door opening and closing. Then, they heard loud banging on another door. Roxas and Terra could hear footsteps approaching them, but Roxas knew that the person would be….

"Good morning Riku." Terra smiled at the silveret.

"Morning." Riku replied in a hollow voice. He didn't look tired; in fact it, looked like Riku had gotten more sleep than anything else. He looked at Roxas briefly before looking at Terra.

Another set of footsteps approached them before a very slumbersome looking Sora came into view. He rubbed his eyes and loudly yawned as his eyes struggled to gain focus. "Wazz goin' on?"

"The press conference later today, that's what." Terra said.

"A pet circumference?" Sora blinked confusedly. " Wha…?"

Roxas shook his head and walked over to Sora. He placed his hands on his cousin's shoulders and began to shake the brunet vigorously. "Waaaaaaakkkkkkkeeeeeeeee uuuuuuuuuuupppp!"

"Aaaaaaahhh!" Sora jerked himself away from Roxas's reach. His eyes finally focusing before glaring at Roxas. "Jeez, why can't you be a little more gentle?"

"Because otherwise, you'd never wake up." Roxas replied. "At least I didn't smack you with a pillow this time."

"A pillow?" Terra laughed.

"It was on Sora's 16th birthday." Riku sniggered. "Roxas and I decided to wake up Sora in a special way for his 'sweet sixteen'."

"And beating him up with pillows while he slept counts as 'special'?" Terra asked half-stern, half-amused.

"Well yeah." Roxas replied. "It was hilarious watching Sora trying to grab the pillows. Only in doing so, he fell out off his bed face-first."

Sora frowned and looked at Terra. "See what kind of friends I have?"

Terra tried not to laugh. "Yeah, but I bet you wouldn't trade them for anything in the world, right?"

"Yeah." Sora shrugged amiably.

"Where would you be without us anyway?" Riku grinned. He grabbed Sora by his arm and messed jubilant brunet's hair even more.

"Aahh, lemme go!" Sora laughed as he struggled to break free from Riku's hold, earning laughter from the other three. "Riku let go!"

Riku finally released Sora and then turned to look towards the stairs. Roxas narrowed his eyes; he knew Riku was going to say something about going to go and wake up Naminé. The strange fiery sensation that had grown in the pit of Roxas's stomach the previous day had come back in full force.

"I'm going to go and wake up Snow." Riku said. He walked up the stairs and disappeared from sight.

Sora turned sideways and gave Roxas a knowing look before he shook his head. Sora then turned to face Terra and asked if he'd want anything to drink. Roxas drowned out their conversation at this point as his inner fire continued to spread through his entire body.

He decided to slowly walk up the stairs to avoid being heard. He looked around the corner and he barely saw Riku's silver hair in front of Naminé's door. The tall silveret knocked on her door a few times before he called out to her. "Snow, wake up!"

Roxas moved a bit closer; he could see Riku's back entirely. When he knocked again, there was a faint reply coming from inside the room. Riku leaned closer to the door to hear what Naminé was saying. "Don't worry about changing your clothes," he chuckled. "The rest of us are in our PJs anyway."

Roxas heard another reply from the other side of the door; this time, he clearly heard the slight panicked tone on Naminé's raspy voice. Riku shook his head and sighed. "Okay, okay. Come downstairs when you're ready."

Riku turned as Roxas decided to play as if he was casually walking to his room. Riku looked a bit surprised to see Roxas, but then he narrowed his green eyes. Roxas pretended to not notice this.

"Is he up yet?" Roxas asked off-handedly.

"Yeah." Riku curtly replied. "He's just getting changed."

"Man, that guy is so shy." Roxas smirked.

"What would you know about it?" Riku hissed under his breath. He walked past Roxas and headed down stairs without waiting for Naminé.

Roxas shook his head. _Oh I know plenty, Riku. I know more than you think._

"Roxas?" said a soft voice.

Roxas turned and saw Naminé smiling at him. She was wearing an oversized t-shirt and boxers. "Nice PJs."

"Oh these." Naminé giggled. "They're not my actual PJs, but I had to wear something manly, right?"

Roxas chuckled. "Right."

The two blonds walked down stairs to find Terra sitting on the leather couch in the living room, Sora on a bean bag, and Riku on the love seat. "Hello Snow." Terra smiled at Naminé.

"Hi Terra." She smiled back.

"Good morning, Snow!" Sora beamed at Naminé.

"Morning Sora!" she smiled back.

"What would you like for breakfast, Snow?" Riku asked politely. Roxas raised an eyebrow at Riku.

"Oh um…." Naminé fidgeted around with the bottom of her t-shirt. "Um, waffles?"

"That makes two who want waffles." Terra chuckled. Roxas didn't have to look over at Sora to know that he was the other one who wanted waffles. Terra stood up and sighed. "How about we go to the Pancake and Waffle House on Wishing Lamp St?"

"That sounds good to me." Roxas replied. Sora ginned energetically, Naminé simply smiled but Riku kept his eyes on her.

They all showered at changed into their street clothes and were ready to go about thirty minutes later. The ride to the breakfast diner was about fifteen minutes away from their house. Terra drove this time, Riku sat as usual on the copilot seat, while Sora and Roxas took the middle seats, and Naminé sat on the back seat. Sora was playing on his 3DS, while Riku and Terra were having a conversation which Roxas had drowned out. He looked over his seat and saw Naminé asleep on the back seat; she had her elbow propped up so that her head was resting on her palm.

Roxas chuckled as he watched Naminé sleeping peacefully before he turned to face the front. He smiled warmly to himself and sighed contentedly. He looked outside his window and watched the pedestrians walking by. When they came to a stoplight, Roxas noticed a guy and a girl crossing the street holding hands. He blinked before his imagination zoomed into overdrive; his mind rapidly constructing a scene in which he and Naminé walked down a crowded street holding hands. He'd grip her hand so that she wouldn't get separated among the crowd. She would be wearing a beautiful simple white dress befitting of her personality, and her hair would be as long as it was on that night at the pizzeria. He would pull her against his chest and stare lovingly into her cerulean pools; combing through her delicate blonde tresses, bringing their foreheads together and laughing. He would slowly lean in and capture her soft pink lips with his own...

"Roxas!"

He blinked and looked over at his left side. Sora's door was wide open and his eyebrows were disappearing into his hairline. "Are you gonna eat or just stare off into space?"

Roxas shook his head and got out of his seat. When he jumped out of the car, he noticed that they had arrived at the breakfast place. Riku and Naminé were right by the entrance; Terra was more than likely already inside the building. Roxas felt his inner fire being ignited as he watched Riku pet Naminé's head and walk with her inside.

Roxas fumed as he and Sora walked inside the breakfast house. He watched as Riku guided Naminé to the table that Terra was saving for them all. Right as he approached their table, Riku pulled out a chair for Naminé and then sat on the seat next to her. Roxas glared at Riku; the silver haired youth knew that Naminé is a girl and there was no doubt of it in Roxas's mind.

There was too much evidence stacked against Riku: his overall chivalrous behavior, the constant loving looks he gave her, but most importantly, the sketchbook and pencils. Even when Roxas knew he hadn't bought her anything, he would have probably guessed that Sora had bought the gifts.

Until she showed him the note, that is. Roxas recognized Riku's handwriting immediately.

"Aren't you gonna eat anything?" Sora asked suddenly. Roxas turned to his side to see Sora giving him a worried look. "You look sick, are you okay?"

Roxas gave Sora a half-hearted smile. "It's just the nerves for today's press conference."

Sora exhaled deeply. "I hear ya. My stomach feels like there's an anvil in my lower bowels."

Roxas scrunched up his face. "What? Sora, you're weird."

"I've been told." Sora grinned. "The love birds are already in line. I'm just counting on the days before Riku finally confesses his undying love for Snow."

Roxas's eyes widened before his eyes scanned around the breakfast lines around the self-serve tables. He finally spotted Naminé and his blood began to boil when he saw Riku serving her two waffles right of the maker with a sickening, loving smile. What made this worse was that Naminé radiantly smiled at Riku.

Roxas got in line for his cutlery and plate; his eyes on the other two, watching them like a hawk. When he finally grabbed his things, he made his way over to the pancake table where Riku and Naminé were standing in front of; Riku seemed to be mulling over his choices.

"Hi Roxas." Naminé sweetly smiled as he neared her.

"Hey Snow." Roxas replied, smiling warmly as he ruffled her soft hair with his free hand. "Anything good to eat from here?"

She nodded at her plate. "I got waffles, but Riku's the one who's getting pancakes. You should ask him."

Roxas looked over at Riku to find green eyes staring right back at him. Even though his long silver hair hid most of his face, Roxas new that Riku was glaring right at him.

"Anything you'd recommend, Riku?" Roxas asked casually.

"The cinnamon pancakes are pretty good." Riku replied in a nonchalant voice. But Roxas wasn't fooled, especially after the recommendation.

"I'm allergic to cinnamon, remember?" Roxas smiled affably.

Riku chuckled. "Oh right."

"You're allergic to cinnamon?" Naminé asked concernedly.

Roxas smiled at her. "Yeah, I tend to get really sick from it at worst. At best, I just feel nauseous."

"My bro-uh, my sister has an allergic reaction to peanut butter. " Naminé smiled. Roxas clearly heard her slight incorrect wording and he knew that Riku heard it too. "The same thing happens to her."

"I feel her pains." Roxas smiled. "You know, I really don't want pancakes. What kind of waffles do they have here?"

"Oh I'll show you!" Naminé beamed. She walked past him; Roxas turned to face Riku and saw that the silveret looked impassive. Roxas inwardly smirked before he followed Naminé over to the self-serve waffle table.

Despite Roxas initially getting Naminé away from Riku during the pancake and waffle debate, Riku took his seat and Naminé sat beside him. It wouldn't have been so bad, except that whenever Naminé wasn't looking Riku would look over at Roxas with a smug smirk plastered on his face. The entire time they were in the breakfast house Riku kept Naminé's attention on him; when she had finished her breakfast, Riku offered to walk her to the dessert table, then he got her a fruity drink of some sort, and lastly he opened both the exit door and the car's sliding door when they were leaving. And the entire time Naminé thanked him and gave him her sweet, adorable smiles.

Hadn't he made it clear that Riku knew? Alright, so what he actually said was that he was pretty sure Riku knew. But now Roxas was sure that Riku knew her secret. Although Roxas was grateful that Riku was keeping the secret, a bigger question came up: why was Riku keeping her secret? Was he waiting for the right moment to blackmail her into some dirty deed?

_Okay, no. We all know Riku wouldn't do something like that._

Regardless, Roxas had really hoped that she wouldn't be so trusting, especially seeing how Riku was trying to win her affection.

_Wait, why wouldn't she like him? Almost every girl I've ever known always wants to date Riku. Heck, even Xion is smitten with the guy!_

Okay, he wasn't entirely sure of that, but he'd be willing to bet on a sea salt ice cream bar. Roxas never made any kinds of bets, especially not on holy sea salt ice cream bars. The point was that Riku was pretty much every girl's ideal or 'dream' man; good looks, confidence, and above all he was cool. Riku could simply stand with his hands in his jeans pockets and girls would swoon and reduce themselves into puddles of goo over a simple gesture. And especially if he combed his hair with his hands or was shirtless. Girls would drool and stare whenever he would take off his shirt after gym class back in high school, much to Sora's and Roxas's annoyance.

_But Naminé isn't shallow like that…right?_He shook his head and sighed. _What am I doing? This isn't like me and besides, I barely know her anyways. Any feelings I develop for her should be platonic, if not brotherly at best._

"Roxas?"

He looked up to see Xion with her arms folded over her lilac blouse, an amused look on her doll-like face. "Are you okay? Your ice cream is melting."

"Huh? Oh!" he looked at his hand and tired to lick away some of the ice cream running down his left hand. The two were sitting on one of the tables on the rooftop; the area was employee and artist use only. They were eating out of their ice cream cups, at least he was, she seemed to have finished and left her empty paper cup on the glass table.

The four band members and Terra had arrived at the Kingdom Hearts records building around twenty minutes previously; Xion had greeted them while Kairi was busy preparing a 'surprise' for them. Aqua was working on the choreography for another group's upcoming video. They were told by Terra to do as they wished but to meet in their dressing room at 11pm.

Xion had asked Roxas if he wanted to get some ice cream and then head to the rooftop, to which he had agreed. As he finished his ice cream, his mind drifted back to Naminé.

_I wonder what type of guys she likes…an artistic type? No, don't this to yourself Roxas. It'll be like with Olette all over again._

"Hey Xion…" he asked before he took the last spoonful. "Do you like Riku?"

Xion's cheeks turned a bright scarlet and her eyes widened. "Wh-what?"

"Do you like Riku?" Roxas repeated as he put his empty cup on the glass table.

Xion fidgeted with a ring on her right index finger. "Why are you asking?"

"Just 'cause." He replied dryly.

Xion's ocean blue eyes shifted around nervously. "Um…I think I might."

Roxas raised his eyebrows. "You think you might?"

"I'm not entirely sure if I like him." She replied shyly. "…has he said anything about me?"

Roxas felt a strange sensation in his stomach, very different from the other fiery sensation. "No, he hasn't."

Xion's shoulders slumped. "Oh right…why would he?"

"Hey, you better not start putting yourself down, little lady." Roxas smiled crookedly.

"I wasn't." she quickly and unconvincingly replied. "Oh, I'm sorry for yesterday."

Roxas blinked. "What did you do yesterday that you're apologizing for?"

"When I dumped all my emotional baggage on you." Xion said it as if it were the only and obvious answer.

"I was the one who asked, remember?" Roxas smiled. He took her left hand and held it gently. "And to be honest, you and I have more in common than you think."

Xion tilted her head to the side. "What?"

Roxas sighed. "Let me tell you a story: Once upon a time, there lived a little boy with his mom and dad. The little boy was a very happy boy. One day, a man came to his parent's house. There had been an argument between the stranger and the boy's father. Then, there was a loud gunshot that echoed throughout the house.

"The little boy had been playing in his room with another boy; when the gun was fired, the older of the two boys took the little one by the hand and opened a door on the floor. The older boy shoved the little one inside the dark and scary room under the house. The older boy told the little one to not make a sound, and then he ran off. The little one cried and he waited and waited and waited and waited.

"The little boy eventually fell asleep and when he woke up, he wasn't in his home. He was at a police station, where a policeman and a nice lady were looking after him. The nice lady told the little boy that his aunt and uncle were going to pick him up. The little boy asked for his parents, but he wasn't given an answer. The little boy kept asking and asking for his mommy and daddy, but he wasn't given any answers. He began to scream and cry hysterically, and he was like that for several hours until he fell asleep again. "

Xion had covered her mouth with her free hand, her cheeks stained with trailing tears.

"He woke up in the police station and was told by the nice lady that his aunt was there, that he would now live with her and his uncle. But the boy refused, he wanted to see his mommy and daddy. The door opened and a woman with a loving face walked in. She fell to her knees and took the little boy in her arms, telling him that things would get better."

Roxas sighed and let go of Xion's hand. "Things did get better for the little boy; he was brought to live in a home with his aunt and uncle and their two sons. The oldest was a rude kid who constantly picked on the youngest brother. But the little boy and the youngest of the brothers immediately bonded; the little brother would often say that he preferred his cousin over his own older brother. This made the little boy immensely happy. And so the little boy grew up in a loving home. He had very few memories of his parents, but he never forgot that night. And he never will."

Xion exhaled shakily. "And this little boy is now about to realize his dream to become a singer."

Roxas chuckled. "Yeah."

Xion stood up from her seat and hugged Roxas. She sniffled against him as he patted her back gently. "I told you we have more in common besides loving the same ice cream flavor and video games."

She laughed. "We sure do. We both lost our parents, but we still grew up in loving homes; with relatives that love us dearly."

"What's this?"

Roxas and Xion turned to find Axel standing by the door way giving them a suggestive look. "Axel!"

"I hope I didn't interrupt anything…" he said slyly, as the other two let go of each other.

"Get your mind out of the gutter!" Xion hissed. "Why do you always assume that?"

"Hey, you try being around Larxene for eight years and then get back to me!" Axel said defensively. "Especially when she goes into graphic details of her sick dreams...while she touches you."

Roxas made a face. "I've heard some weird shit about her, but I just thought it was stupid rumors."

Axel shook his head. "Whatever you heard, if it made you sick to your stomach, it's one hundred percent true. Trust me."

"Even the one about her having her own personal dungeon?" Roxas asked worriedly.

Axel's eyes widened. "I haven't even heard that one. But knowing Bitch-face, it's probably true."

"Bitch-face?" Xion raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, because calling her 'sadistic bitch' is a compliment and unleashes her unholy, high-pitched giggling." Axel shuddered. "I can't wait until the band splits."

"What?" Roxas jumped out of his seat. "You-you're-you guys are splitting up?"

Axel raised his eyebrows. "Calm down Roxas, breathe kid. Take a seat and I'll explain."

The three of them sat down and Axel sighed heavily. "Look, the band has been going through some tough times throughout the years and we've always made it through because we wanted to keep making music. At least that's what it used to be."

"What happened?" Roxas asked.

"Well, Larxene no longer gives a shit about anything besides getting paid to buy her kinky shit, Marluxia started acting like he's the one in charge of the band, Zexion at least has a better reason; he wants to major in literature." Axel sighed tiredly. "Demyx and I are the only ones who still care about the fans and the music. I'm working on a few songs that he and I will be doing when we split from the others."

"But you can't split." Roxas said quietly. "You guys are my all-time favorite band. After your second album came out, I asked Sora if he wanted to be in a band. It's because of you guys that our band got started…"

Axel smiled. "How old were you when you got your band together?"

"I was fifteen." Roxas replied.

"You were just a kid." Axel said. "Look Roxas, you have no idea how much I appreciate that our band was the inspiration for yours. It means more than I can ever tell you. But we've been in this business for almost a decade; now don't get me wrong, I love playing music, especially for fans like you. But when shit happens, well, shit happens."

_Man, I feel like I want to cry…I'm such a baby._

"You don't seem surprised by the news, Xion." Axel poked her shoulder.

"…I heard Saïx telling Xemnas about it." She replied.

"Why Xion!" Axel said dramatically. "You were eavesdropping? I would have never thought that such a sweet, completely non-violent, adorable, respectful little girl like you would ever do that!"

"Oh shut up!" she threw her empty ice cream paper cup at him, which he easily dodged. "I wasn't eavesdropping; I was delivering Xemnas his morning coffee when Saïx said that, I'll have you know."

"Uh huh." Axel rolled his eyes. "Anyways, why are you two up here? If you weren't having a 'moment', then what were you doing here?"

"Just enjoying the weather." Roxas replied. "And the ice cream."

"Where's my cup?" Axel asked the two.

"Go get your own!" Xion smiled. "Oh and by the way, that picture you sent me of the Photoshopped boob with lotus seeds…NOT FUNNY!"

Roxas's eyes widened as Axel burst into laughter.

"You know I have Trypophobia!" Xion hissed as Axel's laughter increased. "Do you have any idea of how badly that stupid picture triggered me?"

"Um, what's Trypophobia?" Roxas asked confusedly.

"It's an irrational fear of clusters of asymmetrical holes, bumps or rashes." Xion answered.

Roxas snorted. "Is that even real?"

"Yes it is!" Xion said fiercely. "And this idiot thinks it's funny to send me images on my cell when he knows they'll trigger my phobia!"

Axel's laughter died down a bit. "I'm sorry, but who is afraid of holes?"

"I am!" Xion snapped. "I hate them! They creep me out! Even more disturbing are the images you send me!"

Roxas's curiosity was really peaking at this point. Although the idea of being afraid of holes and bumps was silly to him, seeing Xion so fired up made him think that it could be a serious condition. "Can I see the picture you sent her?"

"Sure thing pal." Axel immediately pulled his cell out of his jeans and searched for the image. Roxas looked over at Xion; she was gripping the edge of the table and she had a terrified look on her face.

"There it is." Axel showed his phone to Roxas and he took it. The blond's eyes widened as his eyes saw the image that had sent Xion over the edge. Roxas was overcome by a tingly sensation that spread throughout his entire body. His arms erupted in goosebumps and his scalp became immensely itchy.

"What the hell is that?" Roxas shuddered. "I see why you hate it, it's fucking creepy."

"What?" Axel shook his head. "You guys are a bunch of sissies."

Xion grabbed Roxas's empty ice cream paper cup and flung it Axel while the redhead wasn't paying attention. "Jerk." She hissed.

Axel chuckled and got up from his seat. "Well kiddies, I have to go shower for tonight's big soirée."

"Yes, please go shower, you reek." Xion pinched her nose.

"You smell that?" Axel moved closer to Xion. "That's my big boy smell."

Roxas laughed as Xion tried her hardest to hold back her laughter. After a few moments she gave in and doubled over in laughter.

"You kids are fun." Axel chuckled. "But seriously, I have to go home and shower for tonight's gala. Are you nervous Roxas?"

Roxas inhaled. "I wasn't a few moments ago, but now that you asked…I feel like my stomach is gonna drop."

"That's normal," Xion smiled. "Don't stress too much, you'll get sick that way."

"And avoid answering any personal questions at the panel." Axel said seriously. "Those damn reporters will take your words and twist them around and you'll be in deep shit."

"Panel?" Roxas gaped. "There's gonna be a panel?"

"Well yeah." Axel smirked. "Did you think you were just gonna pose and have pictures taken? You guys are the new band! They'll be hounding you for questions. Got it memorized?"

Roxas closed his eyes. "Fuck…"

Axel patted Roxas's back. "Welcome to the life of a celebrity; where paparazzi follows you into a toilet, slander you, and women throw their undergarments at you."

"Oh Axel." Xion shook her head.

Axel chuckled. "Anyways, I really do have to get going. I'll be seeing you guys at tonight's shindig."

He waved and left the rooftop area with a wide grin on his face. Xion turned to Roxas and the two smiled. They sat in silence as the wind's breeze picked up, gently caressing their faces.

After a few moments, Xion cleared her throat. "Roxas…"

"Hmm?"

"Who was the other boy that you mentioned in your story?" Xion asked quietly.

"…I don't know." Roxas answered honestly. "He must have been a neighbor or something. I just remember that the kid was a couple years older than me, he had blond hair and blue eyes."

"I wonder what happened to him." Xion murmured.

"I have no clue, but I hope he made it out okay." Roxas said. "He's the reason I'm here today."

"I hope he's okay too." Xion smiled. "Um, what happened to your mom?"

"My mom's body was found by the brook near our house….she had been raped and then the guy slit her throat." Roxas wistfully replied. "My dad had a gunshot to the head when he was trying to protect my mom."

Xion gasped. "Roxas…I'm so sorry."

Roxas sighed. "My aunt and uncle, I mean, my mom and dad, they told me the truth when I was sixteen. They wanted to make sure I was old enough to understand everything."

"They really love you." Xion said serenely.

"As much as I love them."

Roxas jumped when his phone vibrated. He pulled out his cell from his cargo pants and looked at the text.

**Snow: Hey, where are you?**

Roxas smiled at his phone and hastily replied.

**Roxas: I'm on the rooftop.**

**Snow: Where? Why are you up there?**

**Roxas: I was enjoying the breeze. What's up?**

**Snow: Oh. Kairi wants us to meet in our dressing room ASAP.**

**Roxas: I'll be there in a minute! ;3**

**Snow: Okay! :D**

Roxas put away his phone and turned to look at Xion. She was smiling coyly at him.

"What?" Roxas blinked.

"You were texting a girl, weren't you?" she grinned.

Roxas felt the blush gathering in his cheeks. "What makes you say that?"

"One: you're blushing. Two: the whole you were texting, you had a big grin on your face." Xion matter-of-factly stated. "And not just any grin, but a crushing grin."

Roxas shook his head. "You're such a girl."

"I know." Xion blithely replied. "Anyways, I got a text from Kairi; she wants you guys to meet her in your dressing room."

Roxas watched as Xion stood from her seat. He mentally debated whether he should tell Xion that he already knew Naminé's secret.

_No, that's Naminé's choice. I found out by pure accident, if she decides to tell Xion that I know, that's up to Naminé._

The two arrived at the dressing room where they found Riku sitting in a chair in front of a mirror; he was wearing a black suit with a navy blue tie and a black dress shirt. A lady was feathering out his long silver hair while another one was applying some makeup powder on his face. Sora was trying to fix his tie while a lady was trying and failing epically to comb Sora's wild spikes.

"Does it ever lie flat?" the lady hissed.

"Nope," Sora replied. "My hair just naturally gives gravity the finger."

Some of the other ladies nearby laughed, but the lady combing Sora's hair was NOT amused. Roxas smiled as Kairi walked away from the dressing stall area.

"There you are Roxas!" she huffed. She grabbed a suit identical to Riku's and handed it to him. "Here, you ahead and get changed!"

Roxas looked over at the dressing stalls and saw Naminé walking out of a stall. She too, was also wearing a suit just like Riku's, except that her dress shirt was white and she had a soft, sky blue tie. She finished fixing her tie and then looked up to see Roxas. Upon her eyes met his, she smiled radiantly at him.

Roxas was about to return her smile when her eyes wandered behind him, her smile losing its radiance. He turned around to see what was causing her smile to fade; he saw that Riku was still getting his hair done, so it wasn't Riku. Sora was still fidgeting with his tie, and the hairstylist was growing more frustrated with his anti-gravity hair. Kairi was talking with Xion before handing Xion some clothes and telling her where to deliver the clothes.

Roxas raised an eyebrow; he didn't see anything that would cause Naminé to look so bummed out. The small blonde walked past him and sat down in front of the dresser next to Riku. Roxas felt the sparks of his inner fire being ignited as the silveret smiled tenderly at Naminé.

The blond walked over to one of the dressing stalls and locked the door before he began to undress. As he removed his t-shirt, his mind drifted over to the small blonde haired girl that was slowly cementing a place in his heart.

_I need to stop this. I can't have any feelings for her other than friendship, or brotherly._

He removed his cargo pants and then he put on his slacks.

_I need to think of her as Snow again, not Naminé. I need to see her as the demure boy again, not the timid, sweet, beautiful, gentle girl…_

Roxas shook his head. _Ever since I remembered what she really looks like, all I can do is think about how beautiful she is. That dress she wore yesterday, even with her short hair she still looks beautiful._

He put on his white dress shirt and slowly buttoned it up.

_How can I possibly be feeling this way over a girl I barely know? A girl that's pretending to be a guy, no less. Why do you this to yourself Roxas? Why do you have to fall for someone so quickly? It was the same with Olette; we met and within four days I asked her out. And that ended pretty well._

Roxas tucked in his dress shirt before he grabbed his black tie.

_I don't want the same thing to happen with Naminé. I couldn't stand to see her heart broken because of me…_

He closed his eyes as his mind replayed a moment from the previous day.

He wrapped his arms around her frame and gently stroked her hair. He had been initially surprised when she had hugged him, but his body accepted her embrace before his mind could even register her actions. The feeling of her body against his was overwhelming; it was as if her body had been specifically made for his body. They fitted perfectly. He looked down at her cerulean colored orbs, he felt like he could see the ocean waves in them.

His hand reached to touch her soft cheeks, his thumb stroking her chin gently, slowly moving towards her large bottom lip. She closed her eyes and he was so tempted to kiss her. He leaned in, his lips grazing hers. He wanted to give in; he wanted to feel her lips with his own. But he didn't.

Instead, Roxas kissed her forehead. He felt her become rather lightweight, he looked down at her and to his astonishment, he realized that she had fallen asleep. Roxas chuckled as he picked her up and carried over to her to her bed. He gently placed her head against her pillows and her legs on the center of the bed.

He was about to walk away when he felt a tug on his shirt. Roxas looked over at Naminé; her hand was gripping his shirt. He smiled and kicked off his shoes, before he laid down on her bed. She instinctively curled up to him, and he placed an arm around her. His fingers combed through her soft tresses before he too, drifted off into slumber.

Roxas smiled as he fixed his tie. _I regret not kissing her…but then again, it's a good thing I didn't. Otherwise, this battle would be harder.  
><em>_**But that's not stopping Riku, is it?**_Another voice inside him asked. _**He obviously doesn't care that he barely knows her, or that she's pretending to be a guy, right?  
><strong>__But I'm not Riku.  
><em>_**Not saying you are, just saying that if you really are falling for the girl, you should fight for her.**_

Great, now he was fighting with himself.

He unlocked the stall and he walked out to the dressers. He saw that Naminé was done with her hair and makeup; her hair had been picked up in half a ponytail, the rest of her hair was combed to her left side as if it were windswept. She had eyeliner on, but it didn't look like the eyeliner Kairi had on; this was done differently, Roxas had seen the Organization wearing similar makeup on their fourth album, _Heartless._

Naminé looked up as Roxas approached her. Her eyes moved from head-to-toe, a slight blush appearing on her face. "You look good." She said quietly.

"Thanks." Roxas smiled. "You look pretty good yourself."

Naminé gave him a smile. It was completely forced, for some strange reason. Roxas sat down on his chair as two women walked to him and began to do their job.

* * *

><p>Naminé watched as Roxas was getting his hair and makeup done. When she had texted him earlier, he had told her that he was on the rooftop. She had assumed he was alone. But she was wrong.<p>

The moment that she walked out of the dressing stall, Roxas had walked in. Naminé was thrilled to see him, especially when he walked over to her. Her heart had leaped with joy as he smiled at her, but then her eyes saw Xion. The brunette had walked right behind Roxas, before she began to talk with Kairi.

At first, Naminé felt that she had jumped to conclusions; maybe it had been a complete coincidence that the two had walked in simultaneously. But her fears were confirmed when she overheard Kairi and Xion talking while Naminé was getting her hair done.

Kairi noticed that the two walked in together and asked if Xion had run into Roxas. Xion had said that no, the two of them had been on the rooftop tables. Naminé's heart sank at that point, but it sank even further when Kairi began teasing Xion about Roxas.

Though Xion firmly denied anything beyond a deep friendship between the two, Kairi kept teasing the raven haired girl. Xion had waved off Kairi and left the room after Kairi had asked Xion to deliver some left over clothing articles to Kairi's office.

Naminé sat on her chair playing with her powder blue tie, the hair and makeup ladies left after they finished styling Naminé. She heard the chair on her right side creaking; she knew that Roxas had sat down on his chair, she had been tempted to look at him but decided against it. Her head was still elsewhere; it was between whether Roxas actually liked Xion and if the kiss had been real.

The worst part for her was that Naminé couldn't even figure out why this mattered so much to her. Her heart was beating so fast, she was sure that everyone in the room could hear all the noise her heart was making. She sank in her chair and closed her eyes.

From the very time she had laid her eyes on Roxas at the audition day; her mind had been permeated with images of him. She had drawn pictures of Roxas even before she knew his name. His sky blues eyes but especially his smile, effected her particularly.

Naminé's mind quickly drew up a picture of her and Roxas sitting together on the grassy hills of Serenity Meadows. Roxas would drape one arm around her shoulders, his finger playing with her hair. She would rest her head against his chest, her ear listening to his beating heart. They would look into each other's eyes, before she would sit up and dare herself to lean in and kiss him.

Naminé opened her eyes as the mental picture slowly faded. She felt something tapping her foot and she looked down. She realized that it was Riku; she looked up to see his face, he had a tender smile on his face. Naminé smiled back at him and sat up right in her chair. She looked at the vanity mirror in front of her; even though she rarely had worn makeup before, it was different. She wasn't wearing any mascara, eye shadows or blush. She had eyeliner, but it was a bit thick, not light like how she had done it before.

Her hair looked rather nice, but she wanted to place a flower on the side of her head to accent it. But she knew she couldn't, although that didn't stop her wishful thinking. She looked over to her right side; Roxas had his eyes closed as the makeup lady put powder on his forehead. His hair was still the same as apparently, gravity defying hair ran in the family. Naminé inwardly giggled.

Naminé recalled the conversation she had with Sora's mom, Stella. The doting mother had asked how old Naminé was, where she came from and if she had any siblings. After Naminé had lied (yet again) about having a twin sister, Stella squealed with delight about having a surrogate daughter. Stella had declared herself Naminé's or rather, Snow's unofficial mom. Stella immediately suggested that Snow should introduce his twin sister to Roxas, because Roxas could do with having more friends.

Naminé didn't much of that when Stella had said it, but now she found it odd.

Technically speaking Roxas had been introduced to Snow's twin sister by all accounts. Even though Roxas wasn't supposed to find out her secret. The last thing Stella had told Naminé was that Stella had been thrilled that Roxas had a little brother figure.

_Roxas himself told me that he thought of me as a sibling. Although he knows I'm a girl, does that mean that his feelings changed from seeing a younger brother to…seeing a little sister?_

Why was this a problem? When Sora said that he saw her as a younger sibling, it made her extremely happy. But when Roxas said the same thing…it hurt her. She didn't know why but there was a pain in her heart at the mere thought of Roxas seeing her as a sibling.

_Why did it have to be that Riku is the one interested in me? Why couldn't it be Roxas?_

Naminé felt tears gathering in the corner of her eyes.

_Why am I even feeling like this in the first place? It's not like I'm falling in lo…_

Naminé looked at her own reflection, her eyes sparkling in tears. She felt a hand touching hers, and she looked down. She smiled at the hand, and covered it with her other hand. Naminé was afraid of looking up, she was afraid her tears would spill. The man's thumb softly caressed the contours of her hand and Naminé gripped his hand.

_I'm not sure, but I think I'm falling in love._

She finally looked up and was greeted with Roxas's warm smile.

The doors opened and Naminé jumped in her seat, Roxas pulled his hand away and the two turned to face the doors. Terra and Aqua walked in, the bluenette had a sweet smile on her beautiful face.

"Are you guys excited?" she beamed.

"Excited is a strong word." Sora muttered. "I'd say we're ready to puke from the nerves."

"Speak for yourself." Riku said. "I'm feeling pretty good."

"Is you mission in life to be as cool as possible?" Sora frowned.

"Yes and to always contradict you." Riku grinned. "I'm surprised you just now figured this out, Sora. And here I thought I was being too obvious."

Sora grabbed a brush from his dresser and threw it a Riku. The silveret caught the brush easily and placed it on his own dresser.

"You guys should go on a TV show and do comedy routines." Aqua giggled. But seriously, aren't you guys the least bit excited?"

Sora shook his head. "No, I feel like my breakfast wants to come out through the attic."

Naminé made a face. "Ew."

"Hey, better the attic than the basement." Sora said defensively.

"Okay, we get it Sora." Roxas frowned. "You want to puke."

Naminé looked over at Terra; the tall brunet didn't look amused, if anything, he looked angry. "Is something wrong Terra?"

Terra exhaled. "Apparently, Xemnas changed the location of tonight's press conference and neglected to let me know."

Kairi, who had been sitting in one of the lounge couches in the sitting area, walked over to Terra and Aqua with a confused look. "Are you serious? When did he make the change?"

Terra shook his head. "About two weeks ago."

Kairi's jaw dropped. "You're kidding!"

"I wish I was." Terra replied.

"But that's before these guys had even signed the contract!" Kairi looked irritated.

"I know. Xemnas said that he was confident from the beginning that these guys would sign the contract." Terra scoffed.

"It's like he's playing chess," Aqua crossed her arms. "We're the pieces; he plays his moves and we do everything as he expects it."

Terra nodded. "Pretty much. Anyways, we have to arrive before 5 o'clock, so we need to hurry."

"What time is it?" Roxas asked the as the ladies had finished their work on him.

Kairi checked her cell phone and her eyes widened. "It's past 3! Where are we going Terra?"

Terra sighed in aggravation. "Cornelia Castle."

"But that's an hour away!" Kairi hissed. She rubbed the sides of her forehead, her brows furrowing in irritation. She looked utterly stressed as she looked at the makeup and hairstylists. "Are you ladies finished?"

The women nodded and Kairi shook her head. "Guys, I wish you the best of luck and I'll see you there!"

"Let's get going." Terra addressed the nervous band members. "Follow me."

The four polished-looking singers all stood up from their seats and followed Terra out of their dressing room. As they walked down the stairs to the second floor, Naminé couldn't help her nerves grow; each step she took was a step forward to her destination. She clenched her fists and steadied her breathing. When they got to the first floor, Naminé looked over at the building's entrance and saw a swarm or reporters, all who were holding cameras. She noticed about five security guards were in front of the reporters, keeping them back from entering the premises.

"Who are they?" Naminé asked as the five approached the main lobby reception area.

"That's the paparazzi." Terra answered.

"Why are they here?" Sora looked confused.

"They're trying to get a picture of you guys." Terra replied.

"Us?" Roxas blinked. "Why us?"

"We haven't debuted yet." Riku added.

"If any of them get a pre-debut picture of you guys," Terra turned to face them. "They will sell it to any magazine or newspaper for a hefty price."

"But we're not even famous!" Sora frowned.

"That's exactly why." Terra smiled. "Any photo taken before your debut will be worth a fortune when you guys become famous celebrities."

At that, Naminé's eyes widened and Sora's jaw dropped. Neither Roxas nor Riku looked surprised, so Naminé assumed that they had already guessed the reason. The five of them walked over to the reception desk, but rather than heading towards the main revolving door entrance, they walked right past the reception area.

They entered a long hallway with several closed doors on both sides of the wall; Naminé noticed that each door had a small glass window on the center and a small plaque right by the door frame. They kept on walking past several doors and stopped right in front of the emergency exit at the end of the hall.

Naminé then noticed Terra opening one of the other doors on the left side and entered the room. The plaque on the door frame said "Security Office'. Riku, Roxas and Sora crowded around the door frame, completely blocking her view. She craned her neck to try to see past Sora's shoulder, but to no avail. She could hear Terra speaking with another man with a deep and gruff voice; but their voices were relatively faint, making it difficult for her to hear their conversation.

They three guys began to move back, making Naminé hit the right side wall. Terra was walking out of the security office with several neatly folded leather cloths that looked like blankets.

"What's that?" Roxas asked Terra.

"Your safety disguise." Terra smirked. He grabbed one of the leather looking blankets and handed it to Riku. Terra grabbed two and handed one to each cousin before handing one to Naminé. "Yours might be a bit big on you, I'm afraid."

Naminé unfolded hers and realized that it wasn't a blanket but a cloak; a full-length black coat with a hood and a waist-high slit going up the back. It had a large silver zipper that fastened at the top and zips down to seal the coat. It had silver drawstrings for the hood decorated with a large silver bead hanging from the end and a silver chain ornament adorned with four large cylindrical silver beads that fastened to a loop on either side of the collarbone region.

"These cloaks will be for concealing your identity from the paparazzi that are at Cornelia Castle." Terra spoke in a serious tone. "Be as stealth-like as possible to avoid detection. Any questions?"

"Um," Sora said as he zipped up his cloak. "Are we going to an actual castle? Or is that just the name of the place?"

"It's a legitimate castle." Terra's voice lost some of its seriousness. "However, nowadays the castle is mostly used for grand events. Your debut certainly qualifies as grand, as Xemnas had intended."

Terra turned around and opened the exit door, stepping out and holding the door open for them. The four stepped out and they found themselves on the back parking lot, the only cars parked out here likely belonged to the employees.

A silver Ford Fiesta drove up to them; the car was turned off and the driver stepped out. The man tipped his hat at them and smiled merrily. He was wearing a chauffer's uniform and his hat looked like the ones airline pilots wore.

"Guys, let me introduce you to your new chauffer." Terra smiled as the chauffer walked in front of the car and into their view. "This is Vayne Corpus."

Vayne removed his hat and Naminé blinked; he had long bright red hair that was braided behind his back and he had honey colored eyes. Over all, he was rather handsome and his smile added a hint of playfulness similar to Sora.

"Pleased to meet you, everyone." Vayne said cheerily. He walked up to Sora and shook hands; Vayne was barely an inch taller than Sora, with Sora's wild spikes out of the equation. The red head moved to shake hands with Riku, Roxas and finally Naminé herself. She smiled warmly at him and he blinked confusedly before returning her smile.

"I hate to cut your interruptions short, but you need to get going." Terra huffed. "Vayne, you know the way right?"

"Indeed I do sir!" Vayne snapped into a salute. "Rest assured, they'll make in time or your pizza's free!"

Terra shook his head as Sora and Naminé laughed while Roxas and Riku sniggered. Naminé felt like Vayne would fit in nicely to their little group with his sense of humor.

"I'll see you guys then, don't worry about the car's windows, they've been tainted to prevent anyone outside from looking in." Terra waved as he entered the building, the door slamming shut behind him.

"Gentlemen," Vayne said playfully. "Your chariot awaits."

Naminé giggled as Vayne walked around the car and hoped in the driver's seat and Sora hopped inside the copilot's seat. Riku opened the right hand side back door for her and Naminé smiled thankfully at him. She entered the car and was surprised to see the left hand side door opening; Roxas got inside the car and sat down in left corner, smiling mischievously at her. He patted the space next to him, motioning Naminé to sit next to him. She sat down and soon afterwards Riku got inside the car; his emerald eyes narrowing at Roxas momentarily before he sat down on the other seat next to her.

"Alright then," Vayne said from the front. "Everyone all buckled up?"

The four singers buckled their seat belts as the car ignition started. Vayne looked over at Sora and smiled. "I'm gonna try and guess all of your names, how's that sound?"

"Okay," Sora grinned. "Who am I?"

"Hmm…" Vayne said thoughtfully. "You're….Riku!"

The real Riku shook with laughter beside her.

"What?" Sora pouted. "Do I really look like my name would be Riku?"

"Umm…" Vayne chuckled. "No?"

Sora shifted in his seat. "Okay, one more guess."

"You must be Snow!" Vayne said triumphantly.

At this one, all of the occupants in the back seat roared with laughter.

Sora sighed in annoyance. "No! I'm Sora!"

"Oh, my bad!" Vayne laughed. He looked over at the back seat from the rear view mirror and looked at Naminé. "YOU'RE Snow!"

Naminé covered her mouth so that the guys wouldn't hear her girlish giggling. Vayne looked over at Roxas and smiled. "You're Roxas."

Roxas nodded. "Yup."

"So that means you're Riku then!" Vayne laughed as Riku nodded.

Naminé watched as the car rode out of the back lot and into the streets; it proved to be a bit difficult due to crowding of the main street leading out from all of the press vehicles.

The air became thicker when the four band members realized that some of these vehicles were from TV and radio stations. Some people simply got out of their cars and ran towards the main building by foot. Naminé had never seen anything like it before, and that didn't help her growing nervousness.

Naminé looked away from the streets and rested her head on the cool leather seat; her vision slowly became blurry, rather like it always did before she fell asleep. She watched as the car's roof and over light went from solid to watery-looking; the creamy color of the car's interior became a faint white and the over light's black border slowly faded into a light blue hue.

The roof itself began to resemble a sky painted with water colors; some of the creamy coloring faded to yellow, creating a beautiful filed of yellow flowers. She was surrounded by the flowers, reminding her of the hills of Serenity Meadows.

Naminé looked before her as the water colors began to paint something before her; the yellow of the fields to on a white and skin color, and with a blink of an eye, Roxas stood before her. His back was facing her, but she could easily see his windswept blond spikes.

Naminé approached him; with each step she took her black dress suit began to melt away into the water color painting. She stopped walking when she was right behind him and it was then she noticed that her hair was long again as it had been before she had cut it. She was also wearing an orange off-the-shoulder summer dress, the same one she had worn on the day of the audition, the day that she had first met Roxas.

She tapped Roxas's shoulder and he fully turned around to face her, smiling crookedly at her. Naminé felt her heart soar when he smiled, he held out his hand for her to take and she placed her hand over his. Roxas's fingers wrapped around her palm and pulled her closer to him. They looked deeply into each other's eyes, sky and cerulean meeting like when the heavens and seas merged in the horizon.

He leaned in closer to her; his lips just grazing hers tenderly when something caught his attention. He looked past Naminé and he beamed radiantly. Naminé blinked and then turned to see what he was looking at.

Not far from them, the water colors had formed into the small silhouette of a young woman, kneeling on the water color grass. With a jolt Naminé recognized that the other girl was Xion; her short raven tresses covered her face, but Naminé knew. Roxas walked past the blonde and kneeled before the dark haired brunette, taking her in his arms.

He turned around to face Naminé, bringing Xion into full view; she was wearing a floaty lilac spaghetti strap dress, her arms wrapped around Roxas's neck. The two smiled lovingly at one another before their lips met.

The colors exploded; they became murkier as the other two kiss became more passionate. The clear water colors slowly became blurry smears, like an oil painting. Roxas set Xion on her feet, but their lips never parted.

In the blink of an eye, their clothes were melting away into the oil paints. Naminé blinked again, this time Roxas and Xion were on the ground, completely nude and passionately touching each other everywhere. His hand caressed one of her breasts as one of her hands moved towards his navel.

Naminé backed away from the two; the yellow flowers looked decayed, the fields began to look more like a wasteland. The green grass turned into muddy oils, the sky no longer looked bright with different shades of blue, but rather like a giant blob of generic, lifeless blue.

Naminé closed her eyes; Roxas and Xion's voices began to echo in her head.

"_Naminé, Naminé, Naminé, Naminé…"_

The blonde fell to her knees, her eyes opened and watched as the ground became swirls of muddy oil paint as Roxas and Xion's voices grew louder. Naminé covered her ears; a hand came out of one of the swirls and grabbed her left shoulder. The hand shook her violently and she screamed at the top of her lungs, trying to escape its grasp.

"_Naminé, Naminé, Naminé, Naminé, Naminé, Naminé!"_

"SNOW!"

Her eyes shot open and she was shaking all over. She was hyperventilating, sweat coming down from her forehead. She looked around and saw that all four men were looking right at her with worried expressions.

"Are you okay?" Riku asked anxiously.

Naminé gave him a shaky nod for a reply. It was then that she became aware of a hand placed on her shoulder. She knew whose hand that was, she didn't have to look. Instead of turning to face Roxas, Naminé placed a hand over his own.

"Do you feel sick?" Roxas asked softly.

"I'm fine." Naminé murmured. "I just had a bad dream, that's all."

Sora let out a sigh of relief. "I thought you were going into cardiac arrest."

Naminé looked up at Sora. "Did it look that bad?"

"You were trashing around rather violently in your seat." Vayne said in a distressed voice.

"We kept calling your name." Riku whispered.

"I started shaking you, but you kept on sleeping." Roxas said tenderly. Naminé gave his hand a squeeze before dropping her hand to her lap.

She looked down at her hands and clasped her hands together. "I'm sorry I worried you all."

Riku ruffled her hair and smiled affectionately at her. "Do you want us to stop by somewhere and get you some water?"

"No, I'm fine now." She smiled.

"Are you sure?" Vayne asked with a lopsided smile. "I could turn around and go to that minimart we just passed!"

Naminé shook her head. "I'm fine, really."

"Let us know if you change your mind, okay?" Roxas said tenderly, gingerly hitting her head with his own. Naminé chuckled at Roxas before Vayne started the car again and continued its way to their destination.

For the rest of the ride Naminé kept her eyes on her lap, her hands firmly clasped together. She couldn't understand what her dream had meant; was she becoming jealous of Xion? And if so, why? Why would Naminé feel that way towards Xion? The raven haired brunette was such a sweet and caring person, she was like the sister Naminé never had!

But the more Naminé remembered her dream, the more she realized that Xion herself wasn't the root of those feelings Naminé had.

_It's Roxas. Seeing them together like that is what caused these emotions to flourish._

Naminé was jealous of her Xion's growing friendship with Roxas.

_But why? I'm friends with him too!_

Out of the corner of her eye, she looked at Roxas. He was looking out his window; his hand had slumped off her shoulder and was now resting on the space between them. She wanted to hold hands with him, but she knew she couldn't. He shifted in his seat and then pulled out his phone from his slacks pocket and began texting.

Naminé's heart stopped beating momentarily when she saw just who it was that was texting him.

_Xion._

Her eyes fell on her lap again and she squeezed her hands tightly. She could feel tears welling up in her eyes, but she refused to let them spill.

_Why am I feeling this way? Why?_

From the very first moment her eyes fell on Roxas that night of the audition, she felt something for him. Even as the days had passed, she had seen him constantly in her dreams and even drew him! All before she even knew his name, no less.

_Am I…really falling in love with Roxas…? Is this feeling…love?_

"We're here!" Vayne said happily.

Naminé looked up and saw a beautiful, majestic grand castle before them.

"Whoa…" Sora said slowly. The car came to a complete halt and Sora was the first to step out of the car. Roxas and Riku opened their doors and got out; Naminé moved towards Roxas's door as he left it open for her. She closed the door when she was out and Roxas threw on his hood.

"Wow, this place is huge!" He said in awe.

Naminé put up her hood. "This place doesn't help my nerves."

Roxas turned around and faced her with a warm smile. "I know what you mean, but think of it like this; the sooner we do this, the sooner it'll be over."

"You're not even nervous." Naminé said in admiration. "I envy you."

"Are you kidding?" Roxas raised his eyebrows. "I'm so nervous, I feel like my stomach is going to explode."

"Really?" Naminé blinked. "You certainly don't look it."

Roxas shook his head. "I may not, but trust me, I'm as much nervous as you. The only one that _might_ not be nervous is Riku."

"I wish I could have his confidence." Naminé muttered.

Roxas twitched his lip. "…confidence can easily become arrogance, so it's not always a good thing to have."

"You guys ready?" Vayne beamed.

"Where are we headed?" Riku asked as the four of them walked right in front of the Ford Fiesta. Sora put up his hood when he saw Roxas and Naminé, Riku followed suit.

"I got a text from Xion." Roxas replied and Naminé felt her heart sink. "She said to meet them by Hall B."

"Where's that?" Sora tilted his head.

"I know where that's at!" Vayne smiled.

"Okay, lead the way Vayne." Riku nodded.

Vayne took off his chauffer's hat and pulled out a baseball cap from the glove compartment. He also pulled out an envelope which he tucked inside his blazer. "Follow me."

The four singers and their chauffer walked across the parking lot, which was quite a distance away from the main lot. Naminé was about to ask why Vayne had parked so far away, but the answer was presented before her.

The main area was packed with all sorts of vehicles, camera crews, photographers, and reporters. Not to mention the legion of security guards all over the place. She was in such shock that she stumbled on her black cloak and nearly fell on Roxas. She managed to regain her balance, but still managed to bump into the tall blond. He looked over his shoulder at her and she felt her cheeks grow warmer when he smiled.

"Guys look over there." Riku said suddenly, pointing over to the main area where all the ruckus was taking place.

A limo was driving up to the main entrance; the photographers and reporters immediately surrounded the limo, completely disregarding any notion of safety as the limo attempted to move its way forward.

"That'll be you guys in the limo soon enough." Vayne said assuredly.

They walked to the side of the building where a security guard stood next to a large door that Naminé assumed to be an emergency exit. The guard was tall with wavy reddish brown hair that was tied into a pony tail. He was very handsome; he had violet blue eyes and very chiseled facial features. The security guard crossed his muscled arms as the five of them approached him; Naminé noticed his name tag had Irvine written on it.

"Can I help you folks?" he said in a smooth voice that automatically caused Naminé to feel flustered.

"They're the Keyblade Wielders," Vayne said politely. "Tonight is their grand debut and if you would please let us in, we'd be very much obliged."

"Uh huh…" the guard muttered. "And do you guys have a pass or proof of this claim?"

Naminé had a sudden feeling of déjà vu.

The four singers looked at Vayne. The redhead pulled out the envelope from his blazer and handed it to the security guard. Irvine opened the envelope and pulled out an invitation of some sort; he held it up against the sun's light and then looked back the five people standing in front of him.

"Alrighty then." Irvine nodded. He turned towards the door and pulled out a pair of keys from his pants pocket and unlocked the door. There was a loud buzzing noise before the door automatically swung open.

Vayne moved forward and the four singers walked behind him, Naminé gave a shy thanks to Irvine, which caused the handsome security guard to blink at her, before slowly nodding. It was only after the door swung shut behind her that she realized that Irvine must have felt strange being told thanks by an effeminate-looking boy.

They walked into an open area and relished in the feeling of air conditioning. Their shoes clacked on the polished marble floor. They walked towards the main lobby, but Vayne quickly ran towards the emergency staircase door and jerked his head forward. The four singers ran after him, with Roxas lingering a bit to close the door after Naminé had passed.

After going up several flights of stairs, all of which were spiral styled, Vayne opened a door on the sixth floor landing. They walked into a grand hallway that was very well lit by light bulbs on antique candelabras hanging on the walls. There was a single door towards the end of the hall, right by a high stained glass window, with a velvet red curtain draping the sides. The door looked exquisite in its design, with flower and vine patters adorning its center and the door frame.

"Here you are." Vayne smiled as he opened the door. He tipped his hat at them as they entered the room. "I'll see you guys later!"

He closed the door and they could hear his retreating footsteps. Naminé's eyes widened when she noticed a familiar figure sitting in an ornate chair by a large dining table.

Aqua stood up from her seat looking absolutely stunning; her halter dress hugged her svelte figure perfectly, the color gradient was dark blue at the top and as it went down, the blue hues were lighter but the bottom of the dress. Aqua's hair was picked into a bun with a synthetic white lily complementing her overall appearance, and the makeup on her face was flawless.

The bluenette walked over to them, her high heels clacking softly on the floor. She gave each of them a warm and loving hug.

"How are you guys feeling?" Aqua asked in a motherly voice.

None of them gave her an answer; they even avoided eye contact with each other. Regardless of the lack of response, Aqua smiled in understanding. "You can take off your cloaks, you know."

The four of them barely blinked before the noise of their zippers filled the room.

"Where do we put these?" Roxas asked, his voice was rather hollow sounding.

"Leave them on the dining table." Aqua replied.

The four walked over to the table in question and placed their folded cloaks on the top, before turning to face Aqua. Naminé felt like a child that kept looking to her mother for guidance, something she had only felt on the first day of school many years ago.

When none of them moved or made a noise, Aqua giggled behind her hand. "Sit down, relax."

Naminé walked over to the nearest available chair and sat down. She felt her stomach doing somersaults and she clenched her fists nervously. Roxas sat down on the chair next to her and exhaled loudly. Naminé looked up at him; his sky blue eyes were fixed on the ceiling, as if it held some sort of fascination to him. After a few seconds he became aware of her gaze on him and looked down at her.

She blushed and looked away, pretending to be completely interested in the ongoing conversation between Aqua, Sora and Riku. Naminé felt when Roxas placed his hand above hers, hidden from sight under the dining table.

Naminé closed her eyes. _This feeling…is it called love? Maybe Aqua or Kairi might know._

Naminé's eyes opened and Roxas removed his hand when they heard the door creaking open.

Kairi walked in looking amazing than ever; her scarlet hair was curled and tied to the left side of her head, draping her shoulder elegantly. Her strapless dress was a rich orange hue, bringing out her ocean colored eyes and highlighting her auburn tresses.

"Hey guys!" Kairi beamed, walking into the room gracefully.

Upon seeing her Sora's jaw dropped and his cheeks turned red. "Wow…you look great!"

Kairi's cheeks suddenly matched her hair. "Aw, thank you Sora!"

Sora stood up from his seat and bowed at her, before taking her hand and kissing it. "Shall I escort you to your seat, milady?"

Kairi giggled. "Why of course, my dear sir."

The two walked to the dining table where Sora pulled out a chair for Kairi, and quickly sat beside her, his eyes glowing as he looked at her. Naminé felt jealousy over Kairi, but the good kind. Kairi could wear beautiful dresses and spend time with Sora freely, not having to hide her gender at all for the sake of her brother's dream.

Naminé looked down at her hands and then stood up from her chair. "I'll be right back."

"Where are you going?" Roxas asked her concernedly.

"I need to make a call." Naminé smiled. "To my sister."

Roxas nodded, he knew exactly what she meant and he smiled at her. Naminé excused herself with the rest as she walked out of the room. She considered talking out on the hallway, but decided to go to the emergency staircase. Once she was on the sixth floor landing, she pulled out her phone and pressed the speed dial #2.

The phone rang a few times before someone finally picked up.

"Hello?" croaked a voice.

"Snow?" Naminé whispered. Tears already collecting in the corners of her eyes.

"Naminé?" Snow said clearly. "Is that you sis?"

"Oh Snow!" Naminé smiled, more tears gathering in her eyes. "I missed you so much!"

"I do too, kid." Snow chuckled. "How have you been?"

"I'm fine." Naminé sniffled. "Everything's going well."

"Glad to hear that, sis." Snow said happily. "Your secret is still a secret?"

Naminé momentarily debated about telling him that Roxas was now in on her secret, but much like Mrs. Potts, Naminé decided against it. She knew how Snow would react; he would start yelling saying that Naminé was now in danger of being sexually harassed by Roxas.

"Yeah, only Aqua, Kairi, Xion and our manager Terra know." Naminé replied.

Snow sighed. "Thank god, I was starting to worry you'd blow your cover."

"Hey, that's not nice." Naminé pouted. "I'm doing pretty well at this."

"No offense Nami," Snow snickered. "But you've never been great at lying. At all."

"Don't bring that up," Naminé sighed. "I feel terrible that I have to lie to so many people. Especially now that our first single is about to be released."

"Wait, what?" Snow asked. "The first single is almost out? When did you guys record it?"

"Just yesterday." She said. "Tonight is our official press debut."

"Seriously?" Snow asked excitedly. "It's gonna be broadcasted right?"

Naminé shuffled her feet nervously. "Yeah, there's a bunch of TV crews outside and inside the building."

"I gotta see this," she couldn't see his face, but she knew he was smiling. "I am not gonna miss this for anything in the world."

Naminé giggled. "You're not helping my nerves."

"Oh sorry!" Snow laughed. "I can't believe it, my name will be known."

Naminé smiled. "Your name yes, but not your voice. I had to avoid singing as much as I could."

"Oh yeah, you're a soprano range." Snow said. "You know, I'm surprised you haven't been discovered with that feminine voice of yours."

"I don't use my regular voice." Naminé explained before she spoke with her 'manly' voice. "This is how I talk now."

"…that was weird." Snow shuddered. "You don't sound like a guy; you sound more like a prepubescent boy with a nasty throat infection."

"That's the excuse I use to avoid singing." She giggled.

"For how long though?" he asked in a low voice. "Infections don't last more than a week or two."

Naminé sighed. "I know, but this is the only thing I could think of."

"Naminé." He said seriously. "I'm grateful to you more than you could ever know, but I'm afraid you'll get caught. Not because of 'my singing career', but because you could get in serious trouble for this. Your safety and well being is much more important to me than being a singer."

A tear fell down her cheek and she sniffled. "Thank you, Snow."

"I'd hug you if I could," Snow said tenderly. "Promise me that you'll be careful. I know you're doing a good job so far, but I can't help but feel like maybe one of the guys knows already."

Naminé's heart picked up its pace. "You're imagining things, neither Sora, Riku or Roxas know."

"If you say so." He sounded thoroughly unconvinced. "Just stay away from them as much as you can. You live separately from them right?"

Her eyes widened at that. "Yeah, I live with Kairi and Xion. The guys were told I'm staying at a hotel room to avoid getting them sick."

"Good, that's good to hear." Snow sighed in relief.

"So how have you been?" Naminé smiled.

"On drugs." Snow bluntly replied. "Seriously, the meds these nurses give me are insane."

"Mrs. Potts told me about that." Naminé laughed.

"You have no idea of the crazy things I see when I'm drugged." Snow said irritably. "I swear the other day I saw a gigantic, three headed black dog out in the hallway barking at the nurses."

Naminé burst out in laughter. "WHAT?"

"Yeah, as it turned out it was actually the head nurse wearing a black coat." Snow huffed. "Wrap your mind around that one."

Naminé laughed so hard her stomach hurt, but unfortunately for her, Snow continued talking about his psychedelic visions.

"Just last night, my doctor came in to check up on me after a nurse gave me my daily dose of painkillers," Snow sighed. "And I swear to GOD Nami, I thought that his hair was made of blue fire."

Naminé held on to her tummy as tears rolled down her cheeks. "St-stop…!"

"It's so bad that I even hit on the nurse, and trust me, Megara is not the nicest lady in the world." Snow pouted. "She's only semi nice when doctor Hercules is around. And by semi nice, I mean she's as nice as a leech that's stuck on your ass."

The emergency door behind her opened and Riku looked in. "Hey Snow, Terra and Xemnas have arrived."

"Oh okay!" Naminé smiled at Riku before finishing her conversation with Snow. "I'll call you later sis!"

"_Sis?_" Snow hissed. "Um, excuse you little missy, I'm your older _brother._"

"I love you too, bye!" Naminé rasped before hanging up. _Sorry Snow!_

Naminé walked over to Riku and he closed the door behind her. "How's your sister?"

She held back her laughter and wiped away the stray tears. "She's on painkillers, so you can imagine."

Riku laughed. "Is that the reason why you were laughing so loudly?"

"You heard me?" Naminé panicked. When she laughed, she had done it in her normal voice, not her raspy guy voice. She looked up at Riku suspiciously; he knew something about her secret. He had to.

"Only a bit." Riku smiled. "I heard you as I got closer to the door."

Naminé looked away. "Yeah, she has been having quite the hallucinatory visions."

"I imagine so." Riku chuckled.

"When did Xemnas and Terra get here?" Naminé asked. "They didn't use the stairs."

"They came on the elevator." Riku told her. "There's another door at the other end of the hallway."

"Oh." Naminé said. "Is it just them?"

"No, Axel, Demyx and Xion are here too." Riku said as he opened the door to their room.

The first thing that Naminé noticed was that Roxas was still in the same seat as before, but Xion was now occupying her seat beside Roxas, with Axel standing on Roxas's other side since Demyx was sitting there. The four of them were looking at something in Axel's phone; Xion recoiled at something and she yelled at Axel before hugging herself. Axel and Demyx laughed loudly while Roxas reprimanded Axel and hugged Xion.

"Snow, there you are." Xemnas's deep voice reverberated through the walls, and everyone immediately looked at the silveret and blonde.

Roxas's eyes found her and he smiled, but that faded when he saw Riku beside her.

"Snow over here!" Demyx waved enthusiastically at the seat next to him.

Naminé walked over to the mullet haired blond and sat down beside him, Demyx gave her two thumbs up, causing her to smile.

"Are you nervous Snow?" Axel asked.

Naminé gulped. "Y-yes, my stomach is doing flips."

"Well good!" Axel said loudly. "It's a sign that you're completely normal."

"Axel, why are you such an ass?" Xion huffed. "Snow, don't listen to him. Just breathe slowly and stay calm."

Xion smiled gently at Naminé, making the blonde feel a bit better. Until she noticed that Xion was still in Roxas's arms.

"Staying calm is nearly impossible." Roxas sighed. "It's easier said than done."

"I know," Xion smiled tenderly at him. "But if it helps, I'll keep saying it."

"Aw, you're such a sweetie." Axel cooed. "And here Larxene says that you're an ass kisser."

"Pfft!" Demyx sniggered. "Larxene is a witch with a capital b."

Roxas and Xion laughed, finally breaking apart. Naminé gripped her slacks; she wanted to sit back down in her old chair.

_Why are you being like this? Xion hasn't done anything wrong! You're being completely irrational Naminé!_

"Now that you're all here," Xemnas softly hissed. "I would like to apologize for not mentioning the change on location sooner."

Naminé looked over at Terra, who had Aqua sitting on his lap. He gave a chaste smile and then rolled his eyes when he hid his face behind Aqua's back.

"But as you see, this magnificent castle is much better suited for the occasion of this generation." Xemnas said dramatically.

Beside her, Demyx rested his head between his folded arms, Axel rolled his eyes, Xion sighed in aggravation, and Roxas looked irritated. On her other side Riku crossed his arms and stared at the ceiling, Sora had a vacant expression, Kairi rested her head on her hand, Aqua leaned her head against Terra's and Terra closed his eyes. Naminé looked over at Xemnas; the tall silveret kept on talking, seemingly unaware of the lack of attention from anyone.

After a few minutes, or hours, possibly even weeks later, Xemnas's speech ended. The people sitting on the dining chairs were all falling asleep, Naminé included.

"Now, we have ten minutes before the time," at this, everyone snapped into attention. "So, Keyblade Wielders, prepare yourselves. Terra, you know what to do. "

Xemnas smiled and then walked out of the room. The rest of the occupants jolted out of their slumbering state and began to fuss about.

Kairi turned to face Naminé and gasped. "What happened to your face?"

"Huh?" Naminé blinked.

"Your makeup is all smeared!" Kairi walked over to the blonde and touched Naminé's cheeks. "Xion, do you have any makeup in your bag?"

Xion stood up from her seat and Naminé stared; Xion was wearing lilac chiffon layered dress that flowed as she walked over to her and Kairi. The straps on Xion's dress were ruffled and there was a string bow on the side of her hair that matched her ocean colored eyes. She had a small beaded violet purse and she placed it on the table.

"I have powder foundation." Xion said as she held up the small compact. Kairi took it and applied the powder with a cotton piece, covering up what her earlier tears had washed off. After Kairi finished Terra and Aqua stood up and walked to the center of the room.

"Okay everyone, this is it." Aqua smiled lovingly.

"You guys have worked so hard to reach your dreams and here is the fruit of your hard work." Terra said proudly. "You have one more obstacle before you, so get out there and do your best!"

The four singers looked at one another nervously.

"I know you're uncertain of how things will go out there." Terra said wisely. "But trust me, it'll go by so fast, you'll barely remember it later."

"And then years later, you'll be able to laugh about it!" Demyx grinned.

"Especially the part about Larxene telling a reporter to jump off a building and die." Axe said fondly. "Ah, those were the days, before Bitch-face was truly a bitch."

There was laughter scattered throughout the room, none of which belonged to the Keyblade Wielders.

"Just take a deep breath guys." Aqua smiled gently. "It'll be okay."

"Follow me guys." Terra smiled as he began to walk out of the room. The four singers slowly rose from their seats and began to follow Terra when they stopped at the door. The room had exploded with yells of 'good luck', 'you guys will do great', 'don't break a leg', and 'don't threaten anyone with disembowelment'.

The last one actually managed to get a laugh from the four of them, even if it was a brief laugh. The four walked forward and met Terra on the opposite end of the hallway. Naminé followed them as Terra led them to an empty and dimly lit room with two separate doors on each side of the room. Naminé could hear loud, indistinct chatter coming from the other side of the wall and she knew that that place was the place where the press was waiting for them.

"Alright," Terra let out a puff of air. "In about seven minutes, your names will be called individually. Sora and Riku, you two will enter the Grand Hall through the left hand side door."

Sora gulped loudly and Riku nodded gravely.

"Roxas and Snow, you two will enter the Grand Hall through the door on the right hand side." Terra smiled.

The two blonds turned to face their designated door, which happened to be right in front of them. Naminé felt sick, her stomach was doing full acrobatics at this point and her mouth was becoming immensely dry. Roxas clenched his fists and closed his eyes momentarily.

"Good luck guys," Terra's voice sounded like a loving father's. "I'll see you out there."

He waved and walked out of the room, the main door's slam echoing throughout the room when it closed. Sora began to move around in his place for a bit.

"I need to puke." Sora hissed as he made a run for the main door. Roxas and Riku ran up to the brunet and grabbed his arms.

"Breathe Sora, breathe." Riku said calmly.

"I can't!" Sora shook his head wildly. "I feel like all the contents in my stomach are right that the tip of my tongue!"

"We all feel the same way." Roxas said soothingly. "But remember what Terra said; we've worked hard for this."

"Our dream is finally a reality, Sora." Riku smiled. "Didn't you always used to say that you wanted to be rich and famous?"

"…yeah." Sora croaked.

"Then take a deep breath." Roxas said as he let go of Sora's arm. "We're doing this together, all of us. Right Snow?"

Naminé blinked and then nodded. "I'll need all of my big brothers for this Sora."

Sora gave her his trademark toothy grin. "You guys are right; I'm just being a coward."

"Don't worry, just try to clear your mind." Riku advised as he let go of Sora's other arm.

The crowd on the other side of the walls became louder as an all recognizable voice spoke loudly over a microphone. "It is with immense pleasure that today I will present to you Kingdom Hearts Records latest talents!"

Naminé's heart beat rate increased with every word that Xemnas spoke. She hugged herself and backed away from the door slightly. A pair of hands grabbed her shoulder and she knew that it was Roxas; he was trying to steady her.

"Breathe Naminé." He whispered.

"Please let us welcome the four members of the Keyblade Wielders!" Xemnas's voice boomed.

"I can't do this!" Sora yelled. The two blonds turned around to see Sora making another run for the main door.

"Oh no you don't!" Riku yelled and yanked Sora's hair.

"OW!" Sora bellowed as he tried to pry himself away from Riku's grip on his wild spikes. "Let go of me Riku!"

Riku grabbed Sora's left arm and dragged the struggling brunet across the room and to their designated door. "Sora either you pull yourself together or I'll tell Kairi about what happened in tenth grade!"

Sora narrowed his sky blue eyes at Riku. "You wouldn't dare!"

Riku glared right back. "Try me."

Sora opened his mouth to reply but closed it when they heard another man speaking.

"Introducing…" that one was Terra. "Riku Gallagher!"

Riku straightened out his blazer and opened the door and walked out. Sora stared at the door as if it were a mortal enemy.

"Sora Osment!"

Sora gulped and fixed his blazer before he too, walked out. Roxas let go of Naminé's shoulders and walked in front of her.

"You'll do fine, just answer your one question." He smiled encouragingly.

"Roxas McCartney!"

He looked at the door and opened it. He walked out and Naminé tired to steady her breathing.

"And finally Snow Martin!"

Naminé inhaled deeply and opened the door and stepped forward. She walked down several steps; each step was met with millions of camera flashes. When she reached the floor she saw that the other three were standing in the very center of the room.

Naminé walked over to them and stood beside Roxas; the four of them looked at the large crowd of photographers and reporters, smiling proudly.

Behind them was a large banner; it was a picture of them from their very first photoshoot. Roxas and Riku were standing, while Naminé sat on the chair and Sora sat at the chair's headrest. Their band's name was emblazoned at the bottom of the banner in bold silver letters.

The Keyblade Wielders.

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><p><strong>Finite! Ahem, part two will be up soon, hopefully sometime this week! I hope you all enjoyed it and please let me know what you think!<strong>

**See you next update!**


	10. The Premiere Part Two

**I finally got a chance to post this. I have a new job and it's really screwing with my time, especially this story. I'm afraid that future updates will be made whenever time allows, but fear not, I will see this story to the very end! This chapter is by far the longest one I've done thus far, which is why it had to be split into two pieces.**

**Anyways, a few warnings: there's violence in here, although the M rating should be warning enough, really. And some slight OOC, but it's not too far fetched, regardless, you'll be the judge.**

**As before, if I haven't replied to your messages I'm sorry, I swear I'm not ignoring you! I'll be catching up on everything tomo-err, later today. Hope you guys like this chapter, I'm really nervous about the outcome.**

**I do not own Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy or Disney.**

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><p><strong>The Premiere Part Two<strong>

**Friday, May 22**

There were so many flashing lights all around them that Roxas was sure he'd be blind by the night's end. The four singers were seated with Xemnas and Terra in the center of the room; a long rectangle table before them, a microphone and a water bottle before each of them. But the sight before them that was the most daunting to all four was the mammoth-sized sea of press members. There had to be over 1000-plus-something recording cameras, an equal or so amount of flash photography cameras and by god, there had to be over 3000 people seated before them. Roxas had to keep his facial expressions to a minimum, there were two very large sized flat-screen TVs on the walls so that ALL members of the press could see them. Roxas hoped with all of his heart that he didn't have anything in his teeth as the TVs were incredibly high quality. He also noticed several speakers placed throughout the room, most likely so that the back rows could hear.

The large room was incredibly well lit, there was a great crystal chandelier hanging from the center of the cathedral-looking ceiling. There were also many smaller lights that adorned the walls, and all of them looked like candle holders, but with electrical candles rather than the actual candles. The room itself looked like a grand hall where feasts and lavish banquets only fit for kings and royalty would be held in. If it weren't for the current event taking place, Roxas could easily see a ball taking place in this room.

After the four members had descended down the stairs for their grand entrance, they had been directed to their seats as flashing camera lights went off like a lightning storm. Xemnas sat at the helm, Terra sat to his left as second, Riku was in the third seat next to Terra, Sora sat fourth, Roxas in the fifth seat, and Naminé took the sixth seat at the other end. The small blonde fidgeted around with her hands under the table nervously. Roxas couldn't blame her.

Xemnas stood from his seat as the crowd began to settle down. The company president held his arms opened and Roxas knew that a long speech was imminent.

_Please, please, skip the long, hammy speech._Roxas was tempted to bury his head in his hands, but felt that that wouldn't help him build his image.

"I am Xemnas St Peter, thank you all for attending this momentous occasion." Xemnas smiled, as a whole new onslaught of camera flashes went off.

_Why is he smiling like that? He looks possessed!_

"I am sure that you are all eager to ask your questions." Xemnas paused for a few seconds. "I assure you that these talented young men will answer you without prevarication."

He sat down and nodded to Terra, who then stood from his seat. "Hello everyone, I am Terra Dohring, manager of the Keyblade Wielders." This was met with more irksome camera flashes. "We will start with the questions now."

Several hands shot up in the air and Roxas was reminded f his elementary school days. All of the reporters looked like eager children trying to raise their hands as high as they could in order to get noticed by the teacher.

"We'll start with you first." Terra pointed to young woman with sand-colored hair and striking blue eyes. "What's your name, Miss?"

"I am Nala Sarafina," the young woman replied. "I'm representing The Pride Lands Reporter and my question is: who is the group's leader?"

Roxas could feel Sora and Naminé's eyes on him. He hated this question; he may have started the band, but he never considered himself the leader, regardless of what Riku thought. When none of the four singers answered the question, the crowd began to murmur. Roxas wanted to roll his eyes, but instead turned to look at Terra. Roxas was not entirely surprised to find Xemnas and Terra looking right back at him expectantly.

Roxas cleared his throat and leaned closer to his microphone. "I am."

The room exploded with more flashing lights as hands shot up in the air again. Roxas looked down at the table and fixed his eyes on it.

"What is your name and your question?" Xemnas said. Roxas didn't even bother looking up, he had a feeling he knew what the next question was.

"My name is Sally Skellignton, I work for The Spectral Pumpkin." said a gentle female voice. "And I'd like to ask the leader, what was the inspiration for the band's formation?"

_If I thought one or two people looking at me was bad, this is a hundred times worse._

Roxas looked upwards and sat up straight in his seat. "Um, the thing is, I'm a huge fan of the Organization. When their second album was released, I had this I don't know…vision, if you will, about starting my own band. It wasn't so much to become as famous as the Organization, but to become as great as them."

Sally smiled. "The Organization was your main inspiration?"

"Mostly, yes." Roxas replied. "Another band that I liked is Final Fantasy. My dad is a huge fan from his college days and he got me into them. So, I guess it's about half-and-half."

"Thank you." Sally said politely before she sat back down in her seat and more hands shot up again.

Xemnas pointed to a man seated near the front. "Your question?"

A balding man with a long beak-looking nose and a disgustingly red jacket stood up from his seat while holding a pen and notepad.

"My name's Iago Petbird, I'm from Agrabah News." The man spoke in highly irritating raspy voice.

_I take back what I said about Naminé's raspy voice. She sounds more masculine than this guy._

"My question is for the group's leader." _Oh great._"Were you born with that expression?"

Roxas blinked. "I'm sorry?"

"You look like you're angry." Iago sneered. "Is that your natural expression or did something happen backstage?"

The crowd began to talk loudly as a new wave of flashing lights assaulted their eyes. Roxas looked over at Terra for guidance; it was clear that Iago was trying to get Roxas to snap and cause a scene. Terra looked far from amused and pulled his microphone forward.

"I would prefer if you only asked sensible questions." Terra said in a polite manner, but his facial expression indicated otherwise.

Iago looked unfazed and narrowed his thick black eyebrows raised in interest. "So that indicates that something did happen!"

The voices in the room increased in volume as cameras continued to flash every millisecond.

"What?" Roxas looked at the balding man incredulously. "Nothing happened! I wasn't even aware I looked angry!"

"But you are now!" Iago jotted something down on his notepad. "The leader is the one with a temper…"

"That is enough, Mr. Petbird." Xemnas said in a low and rather threatening voice.

"Next question please." Terra said in annoyance, pointing to a man in one of the middle rows.

Roxas's eyes widened when he saw a familiar man standing up from his seat. The man was rather chubby, his black hair, which was normally held in place with a headband, stood up from the roots and he had a warm smile on his face. His suit was black and had a dark red tie with a skeletal dog and three bones.

"My name is Pence Marquette, I'm from Twilight Town Star Magazine." Even before Pence had introduced himself, Roxas already knew who he was. "My question is for the four of them: how are you guys feeling?"

"Awesome!" Sora boomed. The crowd rippled with laughter as he grinned sheepishly.

"Feeling pretty excellent." Riku replied. Roxas noticed that nearly every female in the crowd swooned and sighed amorously. Not to mention the sudden hailstorm of flashing lights from the female photographers. Roxas was _really_ tempted to roll his eyes.

Sora frowned at Riku. "Why do you always have to look and sound cool?"

"Just born that way, I guess." Riku shrugged. All of the females in attendance, young and old alike feasted their eyes on the silveret.

_Show off_.

"And what about you Roxas?" Pence smiled at him. "Are you as equally excited?"

"Yeah." Roxas grinned. "Excited, nervous, anxious…you can get the idea. With all these emotions in me, I fell like I'll be come bipolar or something."

The crowd rippled with scattered laughter before Pence turned to face Naminé. The girl turned a delicate shade of green as it became clear that she would have to speak.

"How are you feeling Snow?" Pence asked politely.

Naminé gulped and leaned closer to her microphone. Roxas felt his stomach churning as she inhaled deeply before replying, "I'm excited too."

Roxas's eyes widened; he couldn't believe his ears, this small framed girl had just croaked up something fierce. Her voice was thicker and her rasp sounded rather baritone, as if she had chain smoking since she was ten years old!

The crowd stared at her incredulously; they certainly wouldn't have expected such a grave voice coming out of such a small framed body. Only a few camera flashes went off when she spoke.

Terra cleared his throat, gathering attention away from Naminé. "I'm afraid that Snow's voice gave out on our last recording session. Please understand that he'll not be able to answer any further questions in order for a speedy recovery."

The crowd's murmurs echoed all around the grand room as Pence slowly sat back down, still in shock. Roxas noticed that Xemnas looked mildly surprised.

_Then again, Xemnas doesn't know that Naminé is a girl. The more she speaks, the higher the risk is for her to expose her natural feminine mannerisms._

"Next question." Xemnas spoke to the audience.

A man with straight hair that reached his mid-back, stood up from his seat in the second row. He had slanted green eyes that held a sort of malice that made Roxas feel incredibly uncomfortable. He wore a white medical cloak over his dress suit and Roxas was strangely reminded of a mad scientist.

"Greetings Keyblade Wielders," the man spoke in a snake-like voice. "I am Vexen Even Prince, famously known as The Chilly Academic. I personally would like to thank you for granting me the _exclusivity_ of your very _first_interview."

_Um okay…?_ _Was it really necessary to add so much emphasis on that phrase?_

The other reporters either rolled their eyes or glared at the man or simply shook their heads.

_I think this is the guy that Axel and Xion mentioned. No wonder they don't like him, not even the other reporters like him either._

"I look forward to sitting down with you all this coming Monday, yes." Vexen smiled devilishly. He sat back down and kept his devilish smile plastered on his long face.

"Next question please." Terra huffed. Roxas could tell that Terra's patience was draining. Either it was that or Terra disliked Vexen as much as Axel and Xion did.

A round, kind-faced woman with grey hair tightly wrapped into a bun stood up. She was right in the front seat and Roxas was shocked to see how short she was; she would probably reach to his waist. She was wearing a floor length, long sleeved, forest green colored dress and a matching pointy hat. She was holding a pencil in one hand a notebook in another. "Hello dears, my name is Fauna Spring and I work for the Enchanted Dominion Inquirer." Smiled the plump woman. "I'd like to know where you guys are from."

Sora opened his mouth to reply but Riku answered first. "Sora and I were born and raised in Destiny Islands."

Fauna smiled again as she wrote down the reply in her notebook before she turned to face the two blonds sitting next to each other.

Roxas cleared his throat. "I was born in Twilight Town, but I moved to Destiny Islands when I was two."

All eyes fell on Naminé and she nervously turned to look up at Roxas. He remembered that Terra had mentioned that her older brother (and logically Naminé herself) were from a place called Serenity Meadows. Roxas nodded at Naminé and turned to face the large crowd.

"Snow is from Serenity Meadows, it's a few hours away from Traverse Town."

Roxas turned to face Riku; the silveret had a small smile on his face.

Fauna thanked him and sat back down on her seat. Xemnas continued to ask for question from the press, but Roxas was completely uninterested…and angry. Riku was trying to upstage him, that was easy to tell. The only thing was that this was certainly not the time much less the place to try to win Naminé's affection. Not that it seemed to work anyway; the petite blonde was much too preoccupied with the event taking place before her to notice much of anything else.

A few more question were asked, along with the ever classic usual ones such as 'what's your favorite color', 'your favorite sport', 'your favorite food' and the like. To which Naminé herself answered, that is, she would whisper in Roxas's ear the answers so that he could say them out loud for her. It was still her answers so it counted as valid. With other questions like 'have you ever been to Radiant Garden before' or other questions of that variation, Naminé would either nod, shake her head or give the 'I-don't-know' shrug.

Roxas was quite happy to know that her all time favorite food, Shrimp Alfredo, was one of his own top five favorites. And he couldn't help but grin proudly when she was asked if she had not only tried sea salt ice cream but if she liked it, to which Naminé nodded enthusiastically. For bonus points, she added one of her sweet smiles with a pink tint spreading on her cheeks.

Even though Roxas knew he shouldn't have felt this way, he was absolutely thrilled that he was the one that was now upstaging Riku. Roxas was the only one that was close to Naminé, but even then Roxas felt that Naminé would have chosen Roxas to give out her answers. At least he hoped she would pick him instead of Riku.

But the most amusing moment, and hilarious, was when Naminé was asked if she had ever had a girlfriend. Roxas nearly burst out in laughter when her cheeks looked like Kairi's hair color, and shook her head vigorously. Watching a girl that was pretending to be a guy answer that type of question added to the hilarity and irony for Roxas. Mostly because he was sure she had never dated, period.

_Maybe I can change that…_

He looked at her and saw that she was fiddling around with her water bottle nervously. He patted her back when everyone else laughed at her response.

The questioner then turned the same question at the other three members, to varying degrees of replies. As expected, Sora's replies were by farthest the most enthusiastic, he was always grinning through the majority of the questions thrown in his direction.

Until he too, was asked if he had ever dated. Roxas craned his neck to look at his cousin's face.

Sora was expressionless and his voice was uncharacteristically robotic and monotone. "Sadly no."

The reporters laughed; they probably assumed that he was merely joking considering Sora's behavior up until this point. But Sora was completely serious…unfortunately for him.

Riku answered the same question in his usual cool tone. "I've dated quite a few girls back home."

It took all of his inner strength for Roxas to not roll his eyes. While it was true that Riku had dated more girls than Sora and Roxas put together, the actual number was smaller than Riku made it seem: three. Riku's first girlfriend had been in his seventh grade, the second one was a girl that had been in Riku's 9th grade biology class, and the last girl Riku dated was during his senior year. The very girl that Riku had lost his virginity to, something which the silveret boasted about for some time.

The question was then directed to Roxas and the blond answered honestly. "I've only dated once so far."

Naminé looked up at him and Roxas couldn't decipher the look on the blonde's heart-shaped face.

The minutes rolled on and the questions were starting to become less generic and some were even directed at Xemnas or Terra themselves. Someone asked Xemnas about the release of their first single, to which Xemnas replied that it would released within the approximating week. Another person then asked about the full length album, which Terra answered by saying that it would be out in the coming month. Roxas was taken back when another person asked if all of the songs were done by professional lyricists, but Terra replied by saying that half of the songs would be written by the band themselves.

_Wait wait wait, I don't think I have that much material! Shit, I better look through my notebook tonight._

The question that made the four become homesick was asked by a man with black hair that reached a little past his shoulders, he had very vivid green eyes that held nothing but excitement in them. He was dressed in a mint green button-up shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, and wore a pair of khakis.

"Hi guys, my name is Laguna Loire, I'm from Radiant Maniacs Magazine and my question is this: have your parents always supported you through the years?" He asked in a kind tone.

Roxas shifted in his seat and looked at Naminé. He knew that she didn't have any parents, but that she considered the orphanage's matron as a mother figure. The only thing was that Roxas didn't know if Snow felt the same way towards the elderly woman.

Roxas turned to look at Sora and the two cousins smiled at each other. "Our parents have always been our biggest fans."

"Even when they didn't always necessarily believe in our dream," Roxas said serenely. "They were always there for us when we needed them the most."

"That's great to hear." Laguna smiled warmly and Roxas was strangely reminded of Noctis's famous 'Proud Papa Smile'. "What about your parents, Riku?"

"My folks are cool with it." He shrugged amiably. "My dad used to think it was a waste of time, but now he doesn't mind."

Laguna turned to face Naminé with a gentle smile. "And your parents, Snow?"

Roxas looked at her knowing very well that her brother was her only known living relative. Naminé nodded and gave one of her sweet smiles.

After several minutes of questions passed, one woman asked regarding the music video for Disguise, to which Xemnas replied its release would be within the month's end, at the same time as the full-length album. Roxas wondered what the direction for the video would be; when he had written the song a few months ago, he had never really imagined anything specifically. But then again, he hadn't imagined that he'd be signed to Kingdom Hearst Records either.

Roxas was brought out of his reverie when Xemnas loudly announced, "I'm afraid that the time has come to bid farewell, my friends."

Terra rose from his seat. "We thank you all for being here tonight." He looked over at the singers and with his hand motioned them to stand up. The four of the stood up as the flashing camera lights assaulted their eyes. All of them waved at the crowd and stood there posing while the cameras continued to go for another round. Roxas heard a strangely familiar sound coming out of the speakers and looked over at his band members. With a flip from his heart, he realized that the sound was none other than their song Disguise blasting out of the speakers. Roxas felt a surge of excitement he hadn't felt since he and his family had gone to Disney Town when he was a kid. Sora was grinning from ear to ear, Naminé smiled radiantly and even Riku couldn't keep himself from smiling like a kid on a sugar high.

After a few moments several security guards surrounded all six of them and escorted them out of the grand hall and back up the stairs that Roxas and Naminé had walked out hours ago previously. As they entered the empty and dimly lit room, the last security guard closed the door behind them after Naminé entered.

A few seconds passed before Sora broke the silence with a loud exhale. "Thank god that's over!"

Terra chuckled. "I'm so proud of you guys! You did excellently!"

"That wasn't too bad now, was it?" Xemnas said.

"No, I guess not." Roxas sighed. "I feel like I got worked up for nothing."

"Same here." Riku added. "To be honest, I thought the questions weren't half-bad."

"Speak for yourself." Sora frowned. "Now the whole country knows that I've never dated."

"You could have lied about that, you know." Roxas told him. "Just try to avoid answering questions like that so honestly. It's not like people really need to know."

"Sora," Terra smiled culpably. "I hate to tell you this, but this conference wasn't nationwide. It was worldwide."

"WHAT?" Sora looked appalled. "Oh god, why me?"

"Hey now, don't feel so bad!" Terra said, clearly holding back his laughter. "At least you're not the only one who has never dated!" He pointed over at Naminé causing her cheeks to turn pink. "Snow's the same as you, dateless."

"You're not helping." Sora grumbled. "Oh man, I hope Kairi didn't see that…"

"Did you not notice her sitting among the crowd?" Xemnas asked.

Roxas felt rather creeped out, Xemnas's orange colored eyes seemed to glow malevolently in the darkened room since his skin color was dark. His black suit didn't help one bit either.

"Wait, Kairi was out there?" Sora looked horrified; he sank to his knees and covered both of his ears. "Now she's gonna think that I have no experience with girls!"  
>"She wouldn't be wrong in thinking that." Riku smirked. Sora scowled at his best friend and punched Riku's shin. The silveret hissed in pain and tried to aim a kick at Sora, who quickly rolled out of the way.<p>

Xemnas chuckled lowly. "You are all quite amusing, I can see I will never be bored with all of you around. I will see you all at Oblivion."

He bowed his head and walked to the far end of the room and opened the door and closed it on his way out. When the door slam's echo filled the room the four singers turned to look at Terra.

"What's Oblivion?" Roxas asked.

"It's quite a famous night club here in Radiant Garden." Terra replied.

"Whoa, who would have guessed that Xemnas liked to go clubbing?" Sora laughed. At this, Roxas had a sudden mental picture of Xemnas dancing to trance music and waving around two large red colored glow sticks.

Terra snorted and shook his head. "Xemnas is going to Oblivion because that's where we're also going."

"We're going to a night club?" Riku raised an eyebrow. "But Sora, Roxas and Snow aren't twenty one yet."

"Killjoy." Sora coughed. Riku glared at him.

"The legal age here in Radiant Garden is eighteen." Terra's response was met with loud cheers from Sora, who was still sitting on the floor. "We're going to the club for the after party."

"After party? Sweet!" Roxas grinned.

"So that means that we're legally adults." Naminé mused.

"Hell yeah we are!" Sora beamed as he held out his hand. Naminé smiled and walked over to him and the two high-fived each other.

"Correction, only Snow and Roxas are the adults here." Riku laughed.

Sora glared at Riku. "Have I mentioned that you're an ass? AND a killjoy?"

"Once or twice, I think." Riku said off-handedly.

The door opened with a loud creak as two familiar looking sisters entered the room and approached them. Sora immediately shot up from the floor and began to dust himself off.

"You guys did great out there!" Kairi beamed as she launched herself right into Sora's waiting arms.

"Were you two in the audience?" Sora chuckled nervously.

Xion nodded. "Of course, we wouldn't have missed it for the world."

"Where were you guys sitting?" Roxas asked Xion. "I never saw you two."

"Oh we were in the back rows." Kairi replied as she let go of Sora. "We got there a little after you guys made your grand entrance."

"Why?" Naminé rasped.

Kairi and Xion smiled at Terra before the three of them turned to face the four singers.

"I asked the girls to call your families and inform them of tonight's big event." Terra replied.

"None of them could make it here," Xion said apologetically. "But we gave them TV listings of the channels that would broadcast today's conference."

"That way, they'd see you guys." Kairi smiled. "Even if they weren't here physically, they're still watching you as your dreams become reality."

Roxas was thankful that the room had poor lighting; that way, they couldn't see the few stray tears falling down his face.

_Mom, Dad, I promise I won't let you down. All four of you._

He wiped his tears away and breathed evenly. "Thank you guys."

"You don't have to thank us," Terra said gently. "We know how much this means to you."

Roxas heard Naminé sniffling beside him; he turned around and took her in his arms. He didn't care that this would probably look odd to the rest, but he understood her. All she had left was her brother, like him and Xion, they had all lost their parents. But as Xion had said, they had managed to grow up in loving homes. Roxas knew that her brother would have given everything he could to have lived the very moment that had just taken place, but Roxas was also sure that Snow was feeling immensely proud of his little sister.

_I know I would. I feel proud of Naminé for being so brave and coming this far._

"How come you girls were sitting so far back?" Riku asked. Roxas had the sneaking suspicion that Riku was trying to get Roxas's attention and to let Naminé go.

"Members of the press are seated first," Terra explained. "Celebrities are seated next, and any other guests are seated last."

"We're in the 'other guests' category." Kairi smiled.

"Oh by the way," Xion grinned. "Your limo is here."

"We have a limo?" Naminé asked as she and Roxas broke apart.

"Of course," Terra smiled. "You're official celebrities now. I'm gonna head out, Aqua's waiting for me."

He waved and walked away, heading towards the door. He stopped as he held the door open. "Oh, your new head of security will escort you out of the castle."

With that Terra left the room leaving the six of them by themselves.

"What time do we have to be at Oblivion?" Riku asked the sisters.

"We're supposed to be there in forty minutes." Xion replied.

"But first," Kairi clapped her hands and grinned mischievously. "You guys have to change clothes!"

"Why?" Sora asked.

Kairi giggled. "Do you really want to go clubbing in a suit?"

"No, I really don't." Sora grinned sheepishly.

Kairi grabbed his and smiled flirtatiously. "Follow me."

The two walked out of the room, as if all the other occupants were non-existent. Xion shook her head and let out a defeated sigh. "And Kairi says that she's not being obvious."

"Pfft, she's as obvious as Sora." Roxas said.

"I wonder how long it'll take for those two to get together." Riku said thoughtfully.

"I hope it's soon." Naminé said delightedly. "Those two make such an adorable couple."

_And that is the reason why Naminé should never speak in public. She's way to girly, it's a miracle that she can fool a man like Xemnas. Or anyone else for that matter._

_**Myself included…**_another voice inside him chimed in.

"I agree wholeheartedly." Xion simpered. "Anyways, let's go get you changed."

Riku, Roxas and Naminé followed Xion out of the room and across the main hall, heading back to Hall B. Xion opened the door and Naminé instantly recognized the antique dining table where their black cloaks were still neatly folded in a stack, right next to a glossy paper bag. Sora and Kairi were already inside the room; the redhead was handing Sora a new pair of neatly clothes from the glossy paper bag. Kairi smiled at the four entering the room and walked over to them with the paper bag in her hand, grinning cheekily.

"Here," she said as she handed Riku his new clothes. "These are for you." She walked right in front of Roxas and handed him his new clothes. "There's a room in the back you guys can use." She smiled at Naminé as she handed the blonde her new garments.

Roxas looked at Kairi questioningly. "Where?" he looked past her but didn't see anything out of the ordinary. The walls were a mint green color with hand-painted white and pink roses that certainly matched the sand colored furniture.

"The room is by the left hand corner over there." Kairi pointed at an area behind her. Roxas looked in the direction of the dining table and realized that there was indeed a door.

_No wonder I never noticed it, it looks like its part of the wall!_

The borders barely stood out, if it weren't for Sora, who had walked in the direction in question and actually opened said door, Roxas would have never thought that the wall was in fact a door.

"Preeeetty sneeeaakyyy." Sora said amusedly. He entered the room and closed the door behind him, making it once again, blend with the rest of the wall.

Naminé walked forward and made her way to the antique dining table and sat down in one of the lavishly decorated chairs. Roxas decided to move quickly before Riku did. The blond went and sat down on the seat next to her, she smiled warmly at him as he took the seat next to her. He looked up as he heard approaching footsteps and smiled at Xion. He offered the other seat next to him and she took it, noticing a small glossy paper bag with silver letters in the middle.

_Maybe it's from a jewelry store or something._

Roxas smiled at Xion before he heard Naminé shift in her seat; he looked over at the blonde and saw that she looked rather uneasy.

"Relax Snow." Roxas said warmly. "You don't have anything to be nervous about."

Naminé's eyelashes fluttered and she gave him a weak smile. "I know, but I can still feel my stomach churning."

"Maybe it's not nerves." Roxas grinned crookedly. "Maybe you're hungry."

"Maybe." Naminé smiled.

The back door opened and Sora walked out wearing a black long-sleeved shirt, a hoodie vest over the shirt, dark colored jeans, and black and yellow Vans. "How do I look?" Sora asked as he placed his suit inside the large glossy paper bag.

"Very handsome." Kairi said approvingly. She walked over to Xion who stood up from her seat and pulled out four large velvet jewelry boxes and placed them on the table. Kairi took one and took a peek inside it before snapping it close. She walked over to Sora with a tender smile on her face.

"To commemorate your official debut, Xion and I bought you guys something special." She opened the box in her hands and pulled out a necklace. The chain was a fine glowing silver, it held a three-point crown in the center. She opened the small clasp and then placed the necklace gently on Sora's neck, before clasping it close. She looked down and fixed Sora's new necklace, a soft smile on her vivid pink lips. The two stared at each other momentarily before Kairi turned around and walked back to the table. Xion had opened the other boxes while Kairi was presenting Sora his gift and said to Kairi, "The left one is Riku's, the middle one is Snow's and the right one is Roxas's."

Kairi smiled at her sister and then looked over at Naminé. "Go ahead and get changed."

Naminé nodded and walked to the back door, opened it, walked inside it, and closed the door behind her. There was nothing but silence in the room as Xion sat back down next to Roxas and grabbed the box in the middle. Sora was still admiring his newly acquired gift; he held up the three point crown at the level of his eyes and smiled. Kairi was leaning against the table; her mind seemed to be elsewhere as she fixed her eyes on the ceiling.

Sora walked up to Kairi and took her left hand, which clearly startled her as she blinked rapidly. Sora brought her hand to his lips and placed a tender kiss on her hand, causing both of them to blush a bright scarlet. The back room door opened and the other five turned to face Naminé as she walked out of the room, closing the door shut behind her. She was wearing a white long-sleeved shirt with a button-up black vest over it, dark skinny jeans and low-rise Converse.

She walked up to the table and was about to take a seat when Xion stood up from her seat and Kairi walked over to the blonde. Xion opened the large velvet box in her hands and smiled tenderly at Naminé. "This is for you, Snow."

Naminé stared curiously at Xion; her cerulean orbs widened in awe when Xion pulled out a long silver chain with a round silver star in the center. Xion placed the velvet box under her arm as she held out the necklace with both hands so that Naminé could see it in all its glory. The brunette walked over to the blonde and placed the gift on Naminé's neck delicately, causing the blonde's eyes to sparkle in tears.

"Xion picked that out for you." Kairi smiled.

"A little blue bird told me you liked stars." Xion giggled.

Naminé hugged the raven haired girl before her. "Thank you." She said softly. Naminé held her arm out to Kairi and the three girls huddled together.

Roxas was happy to see that the three of them got along so well; even if Naminé wasn't related to Kairi and Xion, they still acted like sisters to one another. The three girls broke apart as Kairi turned to face Roxas. "Go get changed Roxas."

Roxas nodded and walked to the back of the room and opened the very well camouflaged door. The hidden room was actually a bedroom; there was a large bed in the center of the room that was covered by a four-poster canopy. The drapes hanging from the canopy where a rich red wine color that certainly contrasted the rest of the room's antique-styled furniture. Roxas placed his new clothes on the bed and began to undress. After he had removed his formal wear, he put on a form-fitting grey long-sleeved shirt that said NOBODY right in his chest. He put on dark-colored slim straight jeans, a pair of black Nikes before he grabbed his suit and dress shirt. He walked out of the hidden bedroom and placed his suit inside the large glossy paper bag.

Roxas smiled when he saw that Xion was waiting for him with a velvet box in her hands. She opened it and held out a silver chain with a silver four point star in the center. Xion handed it to Roxas and he quickly put it on, admiring the feel of smooth silver. He looked over at Xion and gave the raven haired brunette a firm hug. "Thank you."

Xion giggled. "You're welcome."

As he held Xion in his arms, he came to the realization that Xion was like a little sister to him. He knew her past and the similarities they shared, and that in turn helped their friendship blossom. Roxas let go of Xion and then looked down at his necklace when he heard a door slam. He looked up and saw that Riku was walking out of the back room dressed in a black blazer with horizontal white stripes, underneath was a teal shirt, loose-fitting jeans and then a pair of grey shore leave loafers.

Kairi opened the last box and held out a long silver chain with a strange shaped object in the center. At first Roxas thought it was a deformed fleur de lis, but that was only true for the bottom as the top was heart shaped. Unlike the other necklaces, Riku's was black in the center with dark red on the outer border. Riku took the necklace and put it on and smiled at Kairi.

"Thanks Kairi." Riku said.

"No biggie. And it was Xion who picked it out." Kairi replied. Roxas noticed how Xion suddenly became very interested in the floor.

Riku walked over to the dark haired girl and bend over slightly so that he was looking at her bowed head directly. "Thank you very much Xion."

"You're very welcome." Xion muttered shyly. Riku chuckled and much to everyone's surprise, he took Xion in his arms. To say that Riku was taller than Xion was putting it lightly; he towered over her.

_Riku better not start winding up Xion. I swear I'll kick his ass if he hurts Xion's feelings._

The two broke apart and the main door opened; Terra and Aqua walked in with their arms linked together.

"Are you guys ready to go?" Aqua asked.

"Yeah!" Sora and Kairi exclaimed simultaneously.

The couple chuckled and Terra smiled. "Let's head out then."

Sora looked at Kairi and offered his right arm. "Shall we, milady?"

Kairi's cheeks matched her hair as she looped her arm around Sora's arm. "We shall."

The two walked out of the room like they had just been crowned king and queen of the royal ball.

"Are those two dating?" Aqua asked the other occupants in the room.

"No," Riku answered with a small smile. "But they might as well be."

"It'll be a matter of time, you'll see." Terra said wisely, giving his fiancé a meaningful look.

"Let's get going!" Roxas said enthusiastically. This was met with strange looks from everyone but Roxas didn't care. He walked forward with Xion on his arm, but stopped when he had reached the door. He turned around and his eyes fell on a sad looking blonde. "Come on Snow!"

Naminé blinked in surprise but then gave him one of her beautiful, radiant smiles and Roxas felt his heart soar.

When the elevator doors opened Terra, Aqua, Sora, Kairi, Roxas, Naminé, Xion and Riku were greeted with a maelstrom of camera flashes. As soon as the eight of them stepped out of the elevator they were immediately surrounded by several security guards. The men kept the oncoming photographers at bay, Roxas put his hands in front of Naminé and Xion, as the two girls were right behind him.

Terra hugged Aqua closer to him as two guards led them away safely. Sora gripped Kairi's hand as they too, were escorted outside by two guards. Two more guards stood in front of Roxas; one was the guard they had met earlier, Irvine. The other guard had long dark hair with gray streaks that was tied behind his neck, he had some stubble on his chin, and there was a large car over the right half of the man's face and over his eye. He had a pair of round sun glasses on the tip of his nose, which allowed Roxas to briefly see that the man's right eye was shut. He looked like he was in his late thirties to early forties, and Roxas made a quick mental note to never piss this man off.

Roxas had barely taken a step forward when three photographers ran in Roxas's direction. The blond was pushed back slightly by Irvine, causing Roxas to push against Naminé and Xion.

"Get back!" the older man growled at the photographers.

The paparazzi began to crowd around the elevator so much that Irvine called for reinforcements on his walkie. He then turned around to face Roxas. "When I tell you to go, you run for it, got it!"

Roxas nodded. The stern guard moved forward creating a clearing among the paparazzi.

"NOW!" yelled Irvine.

Roxas reached behind him and grabbed one of the girls' hands; without knowing whose hand it was, Roxas held on firmly to the slim hand as he followed Irvine through the crowd. The tall brunet guided them out of the castle as waves of flashing lights and name calling continued to assault their senses. Roxas saw a long limo parked before them a few feet away. The three of them walked down several steps which were lined with a red carpet. A few reporters held out their microphones close to Roxas's face and shout incomprehensible questions at him.

When they finally made it to the limo, Irvine ushered them inside the vehicle. Roxas got in first and immediately sat down on the seat right next to the door; Irvine slammed the door shut when Roxas and the girl were safely inside. Their seat was right in front of the mini bar and diagonal window seat before him. He then saw that that hand he had held onto this whole time was none other than Naminé's. She was sitting down next to him breathing rapidly, her cheeks were tinted red.

"We made it." Roxas sighed. She nodded at him and closed her eyes, letting out a relieved sigh.

Roxas looked over at the diagonal seat before him and realized that he and Naminé were the only ones inside the limo.

"Didn't Sora and Kairi leave right before us?" he asked her.

Naminé opened her eyes and looked around. "I'm pretty sure they did; I saw them leaving behind Terra and Aqua. "

The crowd outside roared in delight and it wasn't long before Roxas found out why. The door opened and Riku got inside with Xion clutching onto his blazer. The two were panting heavily, as if they had run a marathon.

The two sat in the diagonal seat in front of the two blonds; Roxas noticed that Riku was gripping Xion's hand tightly and both of their faces were flushed.

Naminé suddenly gasped. "Xion what happened to your arm?"

Roxas looked over at Xion; his eyes widened when he noticed a dark red mark on her right upper arm. It looked like someone had scratched her furiously.

"Someone tried to her while we made our way here." Riku answered.

"Who was it?" Roxas hissed.

"I don't know." Xion said honestly. "It all happened so fast; we started walking forward after the security guard told us to go."

"Xion was in front of me when I saw someone's hand reaching out to grab her." Riku said. "I'm assuming it was a paparazzo, but I yanked back and held her close to me."

At this, Xion's cheeks flared up. "Thank you."

Riku smiled at her. Neither seemed to be aware that they were still holding hands. The limo ignition started making the four jump in their seats. The limo pulled away slowly, Roxas could still hear the reporters yelling questions and there were millions of camera flashes coming in through the windows.

The majority of the ride was spent in silence as the reality of it all sank. Everything that had just taken place in the last two and a half hours was completely real; not eve in his wildest dreams could Roxas have imagined something of this magnitude. He had seen a few televised red carpet events before, as well as seeing documentaries on how celebrities were constantly being harassed by the press. Some paparazzos were downright violent towards the celebrities; they would take pictures right in their faces and then call them highly rude insults.

Roxas looked over at Xion's arm and felt that it was his fault somehow.

_I should have held on to both of their hands. What kind of guy am I that I can't protect my little sisters?  
><em>_**Are you sure Naminé is a little sister?  
><strong>__Don't start again. She HAS to be. She's either a friend or a sister; nothing more, nothing less.  
><em>_**Keep telling yourself that, you might just believe it someday.  
><strong>__Shut up._

There he was again, having a mental argument like a lunatic. Roxas pushed his thoughts out of his head and focused back on Xion's injured arm. This time the red mark had become more noticeable; he could see three scratches.

Roxas felt a light squeeze on his hand; his eyes widened slightly when he realized that he was still holding onto Naminé's hand.

_Uh oh, I better let go before the other two notice.  
><em>_**It's not like they don't know.  
><strong>__Yeah, but I'm not supposed to know!_

He wondered what would be the best way to pull his hand out of her grip without drawing attention to himself. From his peripheral vision he looked at Naminé; she was looking out her window, she seemed to not notice that she was still holding hands with Roxas.

_How should I do this?_

It was as if a light bulb had turned on above his head; he opened his mouth and let out a fake yawn, but he did it quietly so that Riku or Xion wouldn't notice. Roxas separated his left hand from Naminé's right hand, the limo's air conditioning created a sharp contrast with her warmth. He covered his mouth with his newly freed hand as his fake yawn subsided.

As he lowered his left hand he felt Naminé's eyes on him. He placed his hand in the space between them, his hand barely an inch away from hers. Roxas really didn't want to let go of her hand, but since neither Riku nor Xion knew that Roxas was aware of Naminé's true gender, Roxas felt it was best he kept up the oblivious act.

The limo came to a stop and the four occupants looked at each other. Their door was opened and a familiar face peeked in.

"Hello folks!" Vayne smiled. "Hope you're all enjoying the ride."

Naminé smiled. "It's like heaven compared to all of the insanity back there."

Vayne chuckled nervously. "I'm afraid that you're not out of the woods just yet."

"What do you mean?" Roxas asked.

Vayne scratched the back of his neck and Roxas was reminded of Sora. "The press somehow found out that the after party will be held in Oblivion."

"What?" Xion's brow furrowed. "The location is only known to staff, the singers and the VIP guests."

Vayne looked at her apologetically. "I know that Miss, but I just got a call from Terra telling me that the paparazzi is already camping out at Oblivion's entrance."

Xion huffed and began digging through her beaded purse; it was then that Riku seemed to become aware that he had been holding Xion's hand this entire time. Roxas dug in his jeans pocket for his cell, but to his shock, his phone wasn't there. Naminé looked up at him and then dug her hands inside her pockets but came up empty.

"Did we lose our phones?" Naminé rasped. She looked over at Riku and asked, "Do you have yours?"

Riku shook his head. "I think I left mine in my dress suit."

"I think I did too." Roxas said. "At least I hope I did."

"Vayne, where are we right now?" Riku asked the redhead.

"At a gas station about a block away from Oblivion." Vayne answered. "The limo was a bit low on gas. If you guys want to step out and stretch, feel free to do so."

Vayne walked away and left the door slightly open for them. Xion made a 'tch' noise and the other three looked at her.

"No wonder I didn't hear my phone." She said in annoyance as she looked at her cell.

"Is your phone dead?" Riku asked her.

Xion shook her head. "It's on silence. I guess at some point my phone kept hitting the volume button with something inside my purse amid all the commotion in Cornelia Castle."

She put her phone back inside her purse and looked over at the open door momentarily before she got out of her seat and walked outside. Naminé followed right after Xion and Roxas stood up right at the same time as Riku. The two looked at each other for a few seconds before Roxas moved forward.

He jumped off the limo and stretched as much as he could. He looked around and saw that Naminé was by herself, leaning against the limo with her hands clasped in front of her.

"Where'd Xion go?" Roxas asked her.

"The bathroom." Naminé replied. Roxas noticed that she still looked uneasy for some reason. He walked over to her and looked right into her eyes. Roxas couldn't help but notice a luminescent blush appearing in her cheeks, which caused her to look away. Roxas smiled and ruffled her hair.

_**Do you still think of her as a little sister?  
><strong>__Shut up!_

Roxas moved next to her and leaned against the limo; he looked over as Riku closed the limousine door behind him. Riku looked over at Roxas, a scowl was apparent on the silveret's face. Xion came walking out of the gas station's minimart with a plastic bag on her right arm. Her injured arm of all things.

Riku walked over to Xion and grabbed the plastic bag from her. "You shouldn't be putting pressure on your arm until you clean the wounds."

"It's just a little scratch, it's no big deal." Xion smiled lopsidedly.

"I don't want to hurt yourself regardless." Riku said. He smiled at Xion and made her bush.

"Oh, I got a text from Kairi." She said looking over at Roxas and Naminé. "She says that they made it to Oblivion."

"Who's they?" Naminé asked.

"Terra, Aqua, Sora and Kairi." Xion replied. "Kairi says that the paparazzi haven't turned into a big crowd yet, so we should hurry and get there before they do."

At that Vayne came from the other side of the limo with a panicked expression. "Getingetingetingetin…"

"What's going?" Riku asked.

The answer presented itself when an SUV with a large CHANNEL 9 logo passed by the gas station and drove around the corner. It didn't take long for the pieces to fall into place.

"Get in get in get in!" Vayne continued to chant. "Get in before they come back!"

Roxas grabbed Naminé's hand and quickly opened the limo door, and pushed her inside first. He turned around to find Riku doing the same for Xion, giving the brunette a push before the silveret hopped in. Roxas got inside and slammed the door shut, and the limo turned on.

"Everyone all in?" Vayne's voice asked. Roxas looked around and saw that the redhead's voice was coming out of the round speakers on the limousine walls. Xion leaned over to the mini bar and pressed a button on a speaker box.

"We're all here!" she replied.

"Okay! Hang on to your seats, folks!" Vayne said.

The limo made a sharp turn to the right, causing Naminé to press against Roxas. He grabbed and held her tightly against him, as the vehicle continued its route towards Oblivion. The ride wasn't long and before the four passengers knew it, the limo had come to an abrupt stop.

Their door opened and the older man with round shades from Cornelia Castle looked in. "My name is Auron Guardian, I will be your personal security guard from now on." The man spoke in a deep, commanding voice. "You will all follow me as we make our way to the main building; rest assured that you'll all be kept safe."

He motioned them forward with his hand as he backed away from the door. Riku got out first, then Xion followed by Naminé and lastly Roxas. Auron slammed the door shut after Roxas and quickly ushered him forward. It was then that Roxas noticed that Riku had already made it to the building's entrance, holding onto both Naminé and Xion's hands. Roxas walked towards them, his inner fire igniting again.

Roxas knew that Riku was only trying to keep the girls safe, but something about the silveret holding Naminé's soft hand was making Roxas fume. He was so focused on keeping his eyes on Riku and Naminé; the small blonde looked over her shoulder and looked so relieved to see Roxas behind her that he barely even registered the few cameras flashes from the small paparazzi crowd. They entered the cool air conditioned building and Roxas could feel the bass from the music pulsating on the shiny, polished tile beneath him.

Oblivion was immense from both outside and inside; from the outside it looked very similar to Cornelia Castle, but the inside was much more modern. The club had a raised ceiling with several staircases leading to the various floors, which consisted of at least four. There were three doors on each floor that were well spaced out, Roxas assumed that these door s led to the actual dance floors.

Auron guided them forward to the center of the main floor; there was a reception desk where a woman with bright red hair tied into two ponytails speaking with an older man in a white suit. The older man turned around and Roxas recognized him instantly; it was Eraqus, the company's VP.

"Long time no see," Eraqus smiled. He moved towards them and began shaking hands with all of them; except for Xion, whom he hugged instead and Auron whom Eraqus patted them man's shoulder.

"I'll be outside the building keeping guard." Auron told Eraqus.

"Yes, thank you Auron." Eraqus replied.

Auron left and walked back outside where the voices of the press began to escalate. Eraqus shook his head. "If this is how things are now, imagine how things will be when you go on tour."

Roxas's jaw dropped. "T-tour…?"

"Certainly," Eraqus smiled. "After your first album makes over 500,000 sales, you'll most likely be going on tour around the world."

"How did filming go?" Xion asked Eraqus.

"Filming?" Naminé echoed.

"The company isn't just focused on music careers you know." Eraqus said in a matter-of-fact tone. "We have decided to branch out our artists so that they can have acting careers as well. So far, our two most successful cases are none other than Cloud Strife and Squall Leonhart."

"They were members of Final Fantasy!" Roxas said. "That's where they've been since the band split?"

Eraqus nodded. "Yes, but they are filming separate projects; Squall is appearing in an action movie which will premiere next summer and Cloud is filming a TV drama, which will be out this coming spring."

"I never would have pictured Cloud to be in a TV drama," Roxas mused. "He seems so uninterested in everything."

Eraqus smiled. "It's just how he portrays himself, he's just a quiet, simple man." He turned around to face the receptionist and pulled out an envelope from his blazer and handed it to the ponytailed woman. She pulled out several ID cards from the envelope and then pointed a scanner at them.

She picked them up and handed the IDs back to Eraqus inside the envelope and smiled. "Thank you very much, please enjoy your stay."

"Thank you Vanille." Eraqus smiled back. He turned to look at the other four and motioned forward with a jerk of his head. "Follow me."

They walked up to the second floor and continued down a long walkway. Roxas noticed that Naminé began to walk slower, as if she was trying to make it seem like she was distracted. But he knew what she was doing; she was trying to walk next to him without looking too obvious. The only thing was that Riku was starting to notice seeing as he was still holding her hand.

"This floor has been specifically reserved for the after party." Eraqus told them.

"The entire floor?" Naminé asked. "But, what about the public?"

"Oh Oblivion has to different sides." Xion answered. "This side is only for high class events and the other side is open to the general public."

"Seems like a smart idea," Riku said. "That way people don't spike any of the celebrities' drinks."

"That and any other thing that a deranged fan can come up with." Eraqus said.

"Like what?" Naminé asked.

Eraqus and Xion turned around to face Naminé. "You don't want to know."

They walked down towards the end of the hallway and Roxas noticed that at the very end were the rest rooms, with blue neon letter that said VIP. Eraqus stopped in fron door and opened, letting out deafening music reach their ears.

They entered the room and Roxas had to aver his eyes slightly due to the colorful lights beaming all over the room. When he managed to adjust his eyes he stared in awe; the room was huge, it was bigger than their house in its entirety, including their pool. The room had its own private bar that was about the size of their kitchen and living room joined, the dance floor was easily the size of the Grand Hall in Cornelia Castle so people could dance as crazy as they wanted without bumping into someone. In the sitting area by the bar were over fifty small square tables that seated four people, it honestly looked more like a restaurant. There was a large stage behind the dance floor where the DJ was doing his work, and an antique juke box next to him. In the center back there was a drum set and several guitars, but Roxas couldn't see what type they were.

"Wow!" Naminé beamed. "This place is enormous!"

Even though the music was blasting loudly, Roxas clearly heard her normal voice. He wasn't sure if Riku heard it, not that it would matter, he could simply pretend to not to notice, but Roxas prayed that Eraqus hadn't heard her.

Xion however, gave Naminé a cautious look, which the blonde caught and bit her lip nervously. Xion looked over her shoulder at Roxas, but he quickly looked away, pretending he never heard anything and setting his eyes on the bar area. It was then that Roxas remembered that Riku was _still_ holding Naminé's hand.

_Okay, we're inside the VIP room! You can let go of her now Riku!_

It was as if Riku had somehow heard Roxas's thoughts and gripped both girls' hands. Roxas's inner fire raged inside him, scorching every inch of his body. All thoughts were becoming distant, replaced by a strong urge to punch Riku was dominating his instincts.

Roxas's feet moved forward automatically; his right arm rose, ready to be put to action. He opened his mouth to announce his approach, his eyes set on the person in front of him.

"Let's go get something to drink Snow!" Roxas smiled, placing a hand on Naminé's shoulder.

Naminé looked up at him and smiled radiantly. "Sure!"

Roxas watched with immense satisfaction as Naminé pulled her hand away from Riku's grasp, and especially relished in watching Riku's expression.

Roxas turned to face Xion, who was still holding Riku's hand. "Do you want anything to drink Xion?"

Xion nodded. "A pomegranate margarita please!"

Roxas nodded as he and Naminé walked over to the bar area. The two bartenders were women; they were dressed in a white dress shirt with a black vest buttoned on top. Both women had rose colored hair, the one closest to Roxas and Naminé had her hair tied to her left side and it curled down to her chest. She had a gentle smile as she served drinks to other people that Roxas didn't recognize before she noticed the blonds.

"What do you want to drink?" Roxas asked Naminé.

She placed her index finger on her chin thoughtfully. "Anything as longs as it's not alcoholic."

"But that's the point of ordering at a bar." Roxas chuckled.

Naminé scrunched up her face. "I don't like alcohol."

"Okay okay." Roxas smiled. "Do you want to drink Island Punch?"

"What's that?" Naminé blinked.

"It's a blend of several fruits." Roxas replied. "It originated in Destiny Islands, hence the name."

The bartender approached them with a gentle smile on her face. "Hello, I'm Serah. How may I be of service?"

"Hi," Roxas replied. "Can we get one Pomegranate Starseeker, an Island Punch and a Sea salt Night?"

"Certainly," Serah smiled. "Heavy or light?"

"Hmm," Roxas pursed his lips thoughtfully. "Go light with the Starseeker and no alcohol on the Punch."

"Got it!" Serah said happily. "I'll be right back."

She walked away over to the back of the bar where several stores worth of alcohol was stored. Roxas looked down at Naminé who was admiring her star necklace.

"That looks like a Paopu fruit." Roxas said.

Naminé looked up at him and tilted her head. "What's a Paopu fruit?"

"It's a star shaped fruit that only grows back home." Said a familiar voice.

Roxas turned around and saw Sora and Kairi smiling at them. Kairi was holding a blue colored drink in her left hand and Sora was holding something that looked like Pepsi.

"Have you ever tasted a Paopu?" Kairi asked Sora.

She asked this as Sora was taking a sip of his soda and he spat it out, causing Roxas to laugh and Naminé to cover her mouth, shaking with laughter.

"I don't know." Sora looked embarrassed. "I've never tried it."

"Why not?" Naminé asked.

"Err…" Sora's face was a darker shade than Kairi's hair. He scratched the back of his neck nervously, and Roxas couldn't help but feel sorry for his cousin.

"See, there's this legend that goes with the fruit." Roxas said. "Supposedly, when two people share one their destinies will become intertwined and they'll remain a part of each other's life forever."

Both girls looked utterly mystified at this. "That's so romantic!" Kairi said breathlessly.

"Does it really work?" Naminé asked and Roxas couldn't help but notice how her eyes lit up.

Roxas shrugged. "I can't speak from personal experience, but there are people who swear by the fruit."

"Mom and Dad shared one, remember?" Sora told Roxas.

"Yeah, but mom says that they were made for each other, so I'm not too sure that it applies." Roxas said.

Kairi sighed dreamily. "I'd love to try a Paopu fruit."

Sora's eyes widened and choked on his drink, Kairi tapped his back as Sora coughed up a storm.

"Here you are."

Roxas turned around and saw that Serah had placed the drinks on the counter top. He handed Naminé her red colored drink and took his and Xion's drink.

Sora finally gained composure and turned to Roxas. "Oh, Terra wants everyone to gather by the stage in ten minutes."

Roxas nodded. "Okay, just let me give this to Xion and I'll be right back."

"Oh Roxas!" Kairi called as he started walking away. She dug inside her large leather purse and held out his cell phone. "I got this out of your suit."

Roxas placed his drink on the counter and took his phone from Kairi and quickly placed it in his jeans pocket. "Thanks."

"You're welcome." She looked around and raised an eyebrow. "Where's Riku?"

"He was with Xion the last we saw him." Naminé replied. Kairi pulled out another cell phone from inside her purse and handed it to Naminé. The blonde immediately flipped it open and checked her phone, but she must have not gotten any calls or anything as Naminé looked relieved and put her phone inside her jeans pocket.

"I need to give this to him." Kairi said as she held out Riku's cell. "Lead the way Roxas."

Roxas nodded as he grabbed his drink from the counter and walked away with Kairi following him.

* * *

><p>A few minutes had passed and neither Roxas nor Kairi had returned. Sora looked around anxiously and finished his drink in a hasty manner. He left the empty glass on the counter which was picked up by the oldest looking rose haired woman.<p>

Sora pulled out his cell and looked at it briefly before he turned to face Naminé. "Let's head to the stage, it's almost time."

Naminé nodded and finished up her drink and left her glass in the counter before she followed Sora. The guests were starting to crowd around the stage; Naminé noticed a man with long blue hair, yellow eyes, with an x-shaped scar on his face staring at her intensely. Naminé felt a horribly sensation sweeping over her as his eyes remained locked onto her, so she looked away.

Her heart nearly came out of her chest when a large hand landed on her shoulder. She looked up and was quite puzzled to see Axel smiling at her.

"You're quite jumpy, aren't you kid?" Axel smirked and Naminé gulped. "Don't worry, I won't bite you."

Naminé gave him a weak smile. "I know."

"Have you seen Roxas around?" Axel asked as his eyes scanned the area.

"He and Kairi went to look for Xion and Riku." Sora answered.

"Ohh…" Axel hummed. "By the way Sora…tell me you were kidding when you said that you've never had a girlfriend."

Sora scowled and rolled his sky blue orbs. "I should have never answered that stupid question."

Axel chuckled. "Didn't I tell you guys to never answer any personal questions? You could have at least lied or something."

"I know I know!" Sora hissed defensively. "But I got nervous and my mind went blank and I just blurted that out!"

"And now that's gonna be all over the news." Axel smiled lopsidedly. "Worldwide news at that."

Sora groaned and buried his face in his hands. "Did Kairi hear that?"

Axel removed his hand from Naminé's shoulder and cupped his chin thoughtfully. "Hmm, let's see…Kairi was sitting next to Xion and Xion was sitting next to me so, yes Sora, Kairi heard every word."

"Dammit." Sora muttered.

Their attention was drawn to the stage as Xemnas stepped forward. There was a round of applause for him as more people crowded around the stage. Naminé clapped but her eyes were scanning the area around for Roxas. Unfortunately for her, she was barely 5'2", therefore making it nearly impossible for her to find him.

Xemnas held out his arms as the clapping and loud music faded. The tall blue haired man approached Xemnas and handed him a wireless microphone. "First of all, thank you everyone for being here today. Thanks to all whose sweat and hard work made all of this possible. Today we celebrate the birth of a very talented musical quartet that will surely be immensely successful."

There was a round of applause, several people let out shouts of enthusiasm.

"I'd like for everyone to enjoy the festivities until your hearts are content." Xemnas smiled rather sinisterly before he walked off the stage.

"All right then." Axel said. "That's my cue."

"For what?" Sora asked.

"You'll see." Axel smirked. "If little Roxy comes around, tell him to text me." He walked away from the two as the crowd started to disperse. Naminé continued to look around the area, but still no sign of Roxas. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her cell phone and flipped open, thinking of texting him.

_He's probably somewhere with Xion._She felt her heart sink at the thought, but she tried to convince herself that if Roxas liked Xion, that she should feel happy for him.

Right?

"Kairi!" Sora called enthusiastically.

Naminé looked up to see the lovely redhead approaching them. To Naminé's dismay, Kairi was clearly unaccompanied.

"Did you guys find Xion?" Naminé asked.

"Yeah, she was sitting down with Riku at a table over there." Kairi pointed to the seating area behind her. "They're waiting for us over there."

"Awesome." Sora said bracingly. "Let's go!"

Kairi nodded and Sora walked next to her as Naminé followed the two. It was quite easy to tell that Sora wanted to hold Kairi's hand; they kept hitting their hands, but pretended like nothing was happening. Naminé felt some jealousy over Kairi; the red haired girl was able to be herself freely, she didn't have to pass herself off as her brother or any guy. Kairi didn't have to worry about how holding hands would Sora would be perceived by others.

They walked over to a square table with four high-rise chairs and Naminé was reminded of a restaurant. Naminé looked over at Roxas as he was busy texting. Next to him was Xion, and Naminé noticed that Xion was wearing the blazer that Riku had been wearing earlier. Naminé looked over at Riku and sure enough, he was just wearing his teal colored t-shirt.

Kairi looked over at Xion and shook her head disapprovingly. "That blazer won't do Xion."

"What do you mean?" Xion asked innocently.

Kairi rolled her eyes. "I'm gonna go find a first-aid kit, I'll be right back."

"Are you hurt?" Sora asked worriedly, his eyes looking around her for any sort of injury.

Naminé suddenly understood why Xion was acting so innocently about wearing Riku's blazer. "It's for Xion, right? For her arm." At this, Roxas finally looked up and smiled at Naminé, causing her to feel immensely joyous.

"What happened to Xion?" Sora asked as he looked at the raven haired brunette in question.

"Someone grabbed her arm on our way out of Cornelia Castle." Riku replied. "It left several scratches on her arm."

"Who was it?" Sora asked Xion.

Xion shrugged. "I have no clue, everything happened so fast."

"That's scary." Sora said. "I guess the paparazzi are as dangerous as they say on TV."

"It's not that bad really." Xion smiled. "You guys are making a storm out of a glass of water."

"Regardless," Kairi said, all playfulness leaving her voice. "We'd better get that wound cleaned and avoid an infection."

Xion sighed. "It's not like I'm going to die-"

"Xion." Kairi cut her off. "Please."

Xion hung her head in defeat; it seemed that when Kairi set her mind on something, there was no way to change her mind. Xion got out of her chair and smiled guiltily at Kairi before the redhead hugged her.

"Why are you always so stubborn?" Kairi said in a caring voice. "You should be nicer to your older sister."

"It must run in the family if I'm stubborn." Xion stuck her tongue out. "And besides, it's my job as a little sister to give you a hard time."

_So they ARE sisters, that's why they look alike._

Kairi giggled and then turned to face Naminé. "Wanna come with us Snow?"

Naminé nodded. "Okay!"

"You guys want me to come along with you?" Sora asked Kairi hopefully.

"Hey Sora, I gotta ask you something." Roxas said from his seat.

Sora forced a smile. "Can't you ask me later?"

Roxas raised an eyebrow. "Nope. I need you to answer me right now."

Sora looked rather incensed. "Sure thing cousin."

"We'll be right back!" Kairi smiled and blew a kiss at Sora, whose cheeks reddened.

Naminé looked over at Roxas and mouthed 'thank you'. Roxas nodded and smiled at her.

Sora walked over to the table and sat down next to Riku giving Roxas an unamused look. Naminé felt bad for Sora as the three girls began to walk away.

"Poor Sora," Xion said. "He wanted to spend more time with you Kairi."

"Oh Xion!" Kairi said playfully, her cheeks stained with pink.

"It's true," Xion smiled. "It's so painfully obvious, I don't know why you're acting as if it's not."

They reached the VIP room's entrance door which Naminé opened. The three of them walked out into the main second floor hallway and Naminé felt as if the there had been pressure on her ears was gone. She could feel her ears popping as the loud music diminished as the door closed behind her.

"So where would we find a first aid kit?" Naminé asked the two sisters.

They walked down the stairs to the first floor and stopped when they reached the main lobby. "Let's go ask the receptionist." Kairi replied.

Kairi walked forward and the other two girls followed closely behind her. As they neared the reception area, Naminé noticed how close they were to the main entrance. Naminé couldn't see the outside since the sun was setting and effectively creating incredibly bright reflections from the glass, nearly blinding her. Naminé only made out vague silhouettes of the security guards and some lingering reporters.

Naminé nearly bumped into Xion when the brunette stopped walking. Naminé realized that they were in front of the reception area and that Kairi was already speaking with Vanille.

"First aid kit?" Vanille said merrily. "Why of course!" She bent down and Naminé could hear shuffling noises and a small door being opened before it was closed. Vanille stood up straight holding a large white square box with a big red cross in the center. She handed the box to Kairi and smiled. "Please don't forget to bring it back!"

"I won't," Kairi smiled back. "Thank you!"

"Where to?" Xion asked her sister.

"Let's go to the VIP bathroom." Kairi said as she walked forward.

They walked across the lobby and Naminé couldn't help but glance at the entrance again; the sun's harsh light caused her to narrow her eyes protectively, but she could make out a figure walking up to what Naminé assumed was a security guard. The sun's glare was too much for Naminé's eyes to handle so she looked away. The three of them went up the stairs again, but this time they walked past the VIP room and walked all the way to the end of the second floor hallway. The women's room was to the left hand side and the men's was to the right. Naminé stopped in the center space between the two, unsure if she should enter the women's room.

Xion smiled and grabbed the blonde's arm and dragging Naminé inside the women's room.

"What if someone walks in?" Naminé asked in a panicked voice.

"It's the VIP bathroom, Nami." Kairi smiled as she set down the first aid kit on the sink countertop.

"Remember what Eraqus said about the entire floor being reserved specifically just for us?" Xion asked and Naminé nodded. "That included this bathroom."

"But what if it's an employee?" Naminé insisted. "Or a celebrity?"

"We'll just hide you in one of the stalls." Kairi replied offhandedly. "So stop worrying."

Naminé opened her mouth to reply but realized it would be pointless. She looked around the bathroom and was quite surprised to see how beautiful it was. The walls were a polished tile and the lights were crystal cups with an electric candle inside. These lights decorated the large vanity mirror by the sinks; the linoleum countertop's black color matched the fine wooden frames on the stalls and greatly contrasted the white walls. The floor was adorned with shiny tiles that created a fleur de lis patter between four. Naminé brought her attention away from her surroundings when she heard Xion hissing in pain.

Xion had removed Riku's blazer and Kairi was dabbing an alcohol swab over the scratches on Xion's arm.

"Those weren't like that earlier." Naminé gasped. When she had last seen Xion's arm, there had a giant pink mark, not three bright red claw marks.

Xion winced when Kairi blew her breath over the wound. "I hadn't even noticed them until Roxas pointed them out."

Naminé's heart began to speed up at the mention of Roxas.

"Riku took off his blazer and told me to wear it," Xion's cheeks turned pink when she said that. "Since we didn't have any Band-Aids, he told me to use his blazer to cover up my scratches."

"Lucky he thought of that, too." Kairi said as she walked to the wall and threw away the dirty swab in the trash.

"I don't think anyone would have noticed if Roxas hadn't said anything in the first place." Xion smiled.

"You know," Kairi said slyly as she walked back to Xion. "You've been spending an awful lot of time with Roxas lately. Am I sensing a crush?"

Naminé felt her heart sinking and her stomach churning. She looked over at Xion and was rather surprised to see Xion roll her eyes.

"Kairi, don't start again." Xion replied wearily. "Any crush you're 'sensing' must be your own on Sora."

Kairi's jaw dropped and she laughed. "This isn't about me, okay?"

"You know it's true." Xion grinned. "We can all tell you like Sora."

Naminé didn't think it was possible for Kairi's cheeks to get any more red, but they certainly did. Kairi grabbed a Band-Aid and ripped the paper wrapping, then carefully removed the plastic covering the adhesive. Kairi gently placed the Band-Aid over Xion's wound gently and then turned around to throw away the trash.

Xion still had the same cheeky grin on her face which was met with a frown from Kairi, despite her luminescent blush. Xion put on Riku's blazer again and then grabbed the first aid kit and left the bathroom. Kairi shook her head and then put her hands in the nearest sink and the faucet automatically began to gush out water. Kairi looked up and the large vanity mirror and blinked.

"What's wrong Nami?" Kairi asked concernedly.

Naminé hesitated momentarily. _Maybe Kairi can explain to me what my feelings mean._

"Um…Kairi?" Naminé whispered. She wasn't sure why she was whispering, seeing as it was just the two of them alone in a bathroom. "How do you know when…you're in love?"

Kairi grabbed a paper towel from the automatic dispenser on the wall above the trash can. "I'm not sure…" Kairi mused as she dried her hands. "Do you like someone?"

Naminé blushed. "I…I'm not sure. I think so."

Kairi threw away the paper towel and looked at Naminé. "Well, when you think of him, how do you feel?"

The small blonde felt the heat in her cheeks intensify. "I feel…happy. I feel a warm sensation spreading through my entire body."

"Hmm…" Kairi hummed as she ushered Naminé outside of the bathroom. "You definitely like someone. As for being in love, if you're not already, then it sounds like you're starting to fall for this person."

An image of Roxas popped in Naminé's mind. She closed her eyes momentarily as the imaginary Roxas combed her imaginary self's hair with his fingers, before completely wrapping her in his embrace.

Naminé opened her eyes as the she followed Kairi down the stairs. "Do you really think so?"

Kairi nodded. "Definitely."

They reached the lobby as Naminé felt a gentle warmth spread through her. _So it's love. This feeling that's growing for Roxas, its love?_

But then Naminé remembered how close Xion was with Roxas, how much time the two spent together, and the possibility of the two of them having feeling for one another.

"Kairi, do you think Xion likes Roxas?" Naminé asked quietly.

"No." Kairi giggled. "I just love teasing her. If anything, Xion like Roxas like a brother."

It was as if the sun had come out of hiding after months of nothing but cloudy skies.

"Really?" Naminé asked, joy was evident in her voice.

Kairi raised an eyebrow curiously. "You sound quite relieved. Naminé, do _you_ like Roxas?"

"Wh-what?" Naminé blushed.

"I think you like him." Kairi said pointedly. "I'd be willing to bet that the guy you're falling in love with is Roxas."

Naminé looked away, trying to hide her blush. "…am I that obvious?"

Kairi placed a hand on Naminé's shoulder. "Yes, but it's nothing to be ashamed of."

"It's just that…" Naminé sighed. "I don't know how Roxas feels about me."

"For starters, he thinks you're a guy." Kairi pursed her lips. "Chances are that he probably thinks of you a little brother at best."

Naminé smiled. "Kairi, Roxas knows."

Kairi blinked. "He knows your secret?" Naminé nodded. "Wha…bu-but how did he find out?"

Naminé sighed. "I got a call from my brother, and I forgot to lock my door that night. I was reading a book but at some point I fell asleep on my desk. Roxas walked in to tell me about my brother's call, since I apparently left my phone in the living room or something like that. Anyways, Roxas walked in and he tried to wake me up but I ended up falling from my seat and on top of him."

Kairi gasped. "Did he feel you up?"

"No!" Naminé blushed furiously. "He moved me and then he saw…my boobs."

"Oh Nami." Kairi sighed. "Did he get angry?"

"No." Naminé replied. "He was a bit upset, but mostly confused. I explained everything to him; I told him about my brother's injury and I asked him to keep my secret."

"He uh…didn't ask you for any bodily favors in exchange did he?" Kairi asked seriously.

"No!" Naminé replied exasperated. "He's not like that at all."

Kairi sighed. "Well, at least we have another person that knows. I just hope he doesn't rat you out."

"He won't." Naminé smiled sweetly. "I'm sure of it. I trust Roxas with my heart."

Kairi smiled back and hugged Naminé. "You are in love."

Naminé blushed and returned Kairi's hug.

"Aw, how cute!"

The two girls broke apart and turned to face the newcomer. Naminé's eyes widened; it was a tall man wearing a black blazer with a blood colored t-shirt underneath, black jeans that hugged his legs tightly and Vans.

His facial features sent shivers up Naminé's spine; his face was highly unsettling, he had yellow eyes, black hair that was spiked in every direction that looked way too familiar for comfort. But the creepiest aspect of the man was his devilish smile, which only became more noticeable as he neared them.

_Roxas wasn't kidding when he said that Sora and his older brother looked identical._

"What are you doing here?" Kairi hissed. "Who let you in?"

"I have a name. And it's not 'you', it's Vanitas." The dark haired brunet smirked and pulled out and invitation from inside his blazer and handed it to Kairi. "Looks like sharing the same DNA as Sora has finally paid off."

Naminé looked over at the invitation and saw that it was authentic, it even had Xemnas's signature. Kairi scowled and ripped the invitation to pieces.

"Get out." Kairi said fiercely. "Leave right now, or I'll-"

"You'll what?" Vanitas said smugly. "You'll call security? Go right ahead."

Naminé stared incredulously at the man, her brain was having a hard time processing the cruel fact such as sweet woman as Stella had given birth to a man like him. Even more so that he really looked too much like Sora.

"Security!" Kairi yelled. "Security!"

Sora's brother laughed. "Keep screaming sweetcakes, they won't hear you."

"What did you do to them!" Kairi fumed.

"Nothing actually," he replied casually. "You're just too far away for them to hear you."

Kairi glared at him and started walking towards the main entrance, but the man was much faster than Kairi; in the blink of an eye, he managed to single-handedly grab Kairi by her waist. He pressed her against his chest, limiting her arm's movements.

"Let go!" she hissed.

"Oh you're going to be a fun one, aren't you?" He sneered.

Naminé ran over to him and pushed him. He staggered slightly but still managed to keep Kairi in the same place. His demonic yellow orbs fell on her and Naminé felt as if he could see into her soul. "Let her go!"

"You know, I had seen you from far way several days ago," Vanitas said. "And from a distance, you looked just like a girl."

Naminé felt her heart jump to her throat and Kairi's eyes widened in panic.

"But now that I have you here up close," he licked his lips. "I must admit, you're fucking adorable."

Naminé balled up her fists, anger slowly festering inside her. "I'm a guy."

The brunet let out a maniacal laugh. "If you're a guy, then I must be a fairy princess."

Naminé slapped him across the face. She had no idea what came over her, the anger inside was rising with each second. "I told you to let her go!"

In his brief moment of shock Kairi managed to pull away and shoved him to the floor. But Vanitas quickly recovered, the girls decided to make a run for the stairs but he managed to grab Kairi by her hair. Naminé turned around and saw that Kairi was struggling in his hold; Vanitas grabbed both of her arms and held them tightly with one hand.

"Leave her alone!" Naminé shrieked as she pounded Vanitas's shoulder.

He laughed again in that same maniacal laughter and kicked Naminé on the stomach, causing her to collapse on her knees. Vanitas grabbed Naminé by her hair and started pulling her upwards, bringing her face close to his.

"I always wanted to be in a threesome." He ran his tongue on her lips. "But I'm afraid that I need to make sure that you're a girl."

He walked over to the nearest wall, pulling Naminé by the front of her hair and Kairi pressed tightly against him with her hands held by his firm grip. Vanitas slammed Naminé against the wall and she felt disoriented, her vision becoming a bit blurry from the blow to her head.

"And underneath your shirt we have…" he said in delighted voice.

"STOP!" Kairi yelled. "Leave him alone!"

"Oh I just love it how you're trying so hard to fool me." Vanitas smirked at Kairi. "Just because we look alike, it doesn't mean that I'm as stupid as my brother."

"Shut your mouth!" Kairi snarled. She stomped on his foot which he retaliated by removing his hand from Naminé's chest and slapping Kairi.

Naminé saw her window of opportunity and took it; she punched him squarely in the mouth. Her fist hurt her like hell, but she didn't care. "LET GO!"

Vanitas glared at Naminé and slammed her against the wall again, this time he used his knee to press against Naminé's crotch. "You have quite the nerve." He hissed venomously. "I'm_really_going to enjoy you."

"Leave them alone!"

The three looked over behind them as Xion threw Riku's blazer over Vanitas's face and pulled Kairi away as he used both hands to remove the blazer. Naminé saw and opening and aimed at his privates, but missed by an inch and kicked his upper thigh instead.

Vanitas growled like a wild animal as Naminé ran away towards the two sisters. "Now this is even better!" he grinned toothily. "Three girls and one guy, I'd say that pretty much covers every guy's fantasy."

"Go fuck yourself!" Xion spat.

Vanitas looked at her and grabbed her injured arm. "I'd rather fuck you, sweetie."He threw Xion against Kairi, knocking the sisters on the floor. He looked over at Naminé and grinned maliciously. "Where were we?"

Naminé tried to punch him again but missed as he moved out of the way. Vanitas grabbed her right wrist and squeezed it tightly, causing her to scream in pain.

"I LOVE IT WHEN GIRLS SCREAM FOR ME!" he laughed. He pressed her against him and used his free hand to rip her vest open. Kairi and Xion got up from the floor and smacked every inch of him they could; this seemed to fuel him as he absolutely reveled in the feeling as if it were what he intended all along.

Vanitas looked over at Xion and grabbed her injured arm again but she threw a punch and managed to hit his left eye. Vanitas threw Xion downward and threw Naminé against Kairi; the three girls panting heavily as they writhed painfully on the ground. Vanitas kneeled down to their level and looked at them lustfully. He grabbed Naminé by her hair with his left hand and managed to grab tufts of Kairi and Xion's hair with his right hand simultaneously.

"Did I ever tell you girls that you're all fucked?" he smirked.

"VANITAS!" roared a familiar voice.

The four looked up the stairs and saw Sora, Roxas and Riku running down the stairs. Sora jumped off the last six steps as Vanitas stood up, releasing the girls' hair. Sora yelled at the top of his lungs and threw a punch, which Vanitas dodged. But he wasn't expecting Sora to use his other hand and threw a second punch, this time the youngest brother punched the oldest right in the mouth.

"Didn't I tell you to never lay a finger on her!" Sora snarled.

Vanitas smirked at Sora and spat blood at his brother's face. "Don't you know by now that I don't give a shit!"

While Vanitas was distracted the three girls managed to get on their feet. Naminé felt someone pull her away and she nearly threw a punch, but she stopped when she saw Roxas's worried face. He leaned down and grabbed Xion's uninjured arm, she nearly fell on the ground again but Riku managed to catch her.

"Sora!" Kairi shrieked.

They turned to face the brothers to see Sora getting punched by Vanitas. Roxas let go of Naminé and ran over to his two cousins. Naminé's heart rate went to 100mph as she watched Roxas tackle Vanitas to the ground and punch his oldest cousin in the face.

Vanitas punched Roxas and threw Roxas off him and laughed. "Wow, I would have never guessed that you were so strong Roxas!"

"Shut up!" Roxas bellowed as he wiped blood off from his busted lip.

Sora was about to run up to Vanitas but Kairi hugged his waist. "Sora don't!"

"He hurt you!" Sora hissed. "He deserves it!"

"Please don't!" Kairi cried. "Please Sora, don't!"

He looked down at her and then at Vanitas. "Apologize to her. NOW."

Naminé had never heard Sora's voice be that low, it sounded too much like Vanitas's voice.

Vanitas laughed hysterically. "Like hell I will! You've always amused me with your stupidity Sora. Have you considered a career as a comedian instead? I mean, you won't even have to rehearse or write a script! You can just say the first thing that comes out of your fucking mouth and it'll be gloriously stupid!"

"Just fucking leave already!" Naminé yelled. She had never sworn in her life before, but this monster certainly merits being cussed at.

Riku moved her closer to him before he looked at Vanitas. "I never would have thought you were barbaric enough to do something like this. Leave now, or you'll regret it."

Vanitas rolled his eyes. "Save it Gallagher, your threats don't scare me."

Naminé felt Riku letting go of her and he moved forward.

"Riku no!" Xion pleaded.

Vanitas raised an eyebrow in amusement. "Looks like someone's ready to be a big boy now. About time you manned up."

Riku moved his arm back as if he was going to punch Vanitas; the raven haired brunet moved downward to dodge the punch but Riku kicked his face instead. Vanitas fell on his back flat on the floor. The silveret walked towards Xion when he noticed his discarded blazer on the floor. He picked it up and dusted it off before throwing it over Xion's shoulders.

"Is he dead?" Xion asked, her eyes on Riku.

"No, he's just out cold." Riku replied and then turned to face Naminé. "Are you okay Snow?"

"I'm fine." She mumbled. She sighed and before she knew it Roxas had taken her in his arms.

"I'm sorry." He whispered. "I'm so sorry."

Naminé looked at him puzzled. "But you didn't do anything wrong."

Roxas looked at her forehead and his eyes darkened. He pressed her head on his shoulder as his other hand rubbed her back.

Naminé looked over at Kairi as Sora held her and stroked her hair; it was no longer tied up and the curls were completely undone.

They all jumped when Vanitas got up on his feet and smirked. "That was fun."

"Get the fuck out." Roxas growled.

Vanitas rolled his eyes and turned around, giving his back to them. "Not bad at all, congratulations. You three actually managed to punch me this time. But don't get cocky, this war is far from over."

He looked over his shoulder and looked directly at Naminé. "Oh and tell whomever is in charge of the costumes to give you a dress. You're way too cute to be wearing men's clothing, my dear."

Naminé's lips trembled in anger and Roxas held her tighter as Vanitas walked away. They let a few moments pass before Riku walked to the entrance door. When he came back, he confirmed that Vanitas had exited the building.

"Fucking asshole." Riku hissed. "The good thing is that he can't get back in since he doesn't have an invitation anymore."

"What were the guards doing this whole time?" Roxas asked angrily. "Where they fucking hell were they when this happened? Out on lunch?"

"They didn't hear anything from inside." Riku said irritably. "There's an entire crowd of paparazzis out there. The receptionist isn't at her post, I have no clue where she went."

"How did you guys know we were here?" Xion asked as Riku helped her sit on the first step.

"We didn't." Sora replied honestly. "We wondered why you guys were taking so long."

"We walked out of the VIP room when we heard Snow screaming." Roxas said as he looked down at Naminé. He had let go of her but he was standing close to her.

"Let's go get you all cleaned up." Riku said. He helped Xion get up. "Where's the first aid kit?"

"I dropped it on the floor when I heard Kairi and Snow screaming." She said apologetically.

* * *

><p>Roxas had walked in the direction of the reception desk and came back with the large square box in his hands. The six of them then slowly trudged up the stairs and all of them walked inside the women's room, none of them caring if another person walked in. Roxas placed the first aid kit on the counter and opened it.<p>

Roxas looked at his own reflection and sighed; his hair was completely disheveled and there was a large bruise on his forehead, it trailed blood on the side of his face, not to mentions the gash on his lip. When they all finished cleaning their wounds, they all looked at one another.

"I don't know about you guys," Roxas sighed. "But I'm all fun-ed out."

"Yeah, I'm not in a festive mood either." Xion said.

"Fucking Vanitas." Sora hissed. "He always ruins everything."

Kairi rested her head on Sora's shoulders. "What do we do now?"

"Let's head home." Riku said. "We can watch movies or play video games."

"Yeah, let's do that!" Sora beamed but quickly recoiled in pain as his lip began to bleed again.

"Oh careful, Sora." Kairi said sweetly as she gently caressed his cheek.

"But what will we tell Terra and the others?" Naminé rasped. Roxas could tell that her rasping wasn't fake.

"We can just tell him that we're leaving." Riku shrugged. "We don't really need to give him any real explanation."

There was silence for a moment when Roxas spoke. "Just tell him that we're tired, he'll understand."

"And we can say we're going with you guys." Kairi said. "We're not lying anyways."

"So do we tell him in person," Xion murmured. "Or do we text him?"

"I'll go tell him." Riku replied. "You guys all have injuries and that's gonna raise questions."

Riku walked out of the room as the other five remained behind. Xion leaned against the countertop with her head raised, her eyes on the ceiling. She had a bruise on her jaw and a cut on one of her eyebrows. Kairi had a gash on her chin and a dark bruise on both of her arms. Sora had a busted lip, a bruise on under his right eye and a cut on the side of his face.

"I'm gonna go head see if we can call up a cab or something." Xion said tiredly. She walked out of the room and it wasn't long before Kairi followed after her little sister with Sora right behind her.

Roxas looked over at Naminé who was playing with her necklace again. Her forehead was bright red and her face had a small bruise, her lip had a cut right by her cupid's bow. Her sleeves were rolled up slightly as she continued to play with her star; it was then he noticed dark red marks on her right wrist.

"Naminé," he said as he walked up to her. "Let me see your arms."

Naminé blinked but held out her arms. He gently grabbed her right wrist and noticed how not only did she wince, but she hissed in pain. Roxas rolled up her sleeve to her elbow and saw the prints of Vanitas's long fingers.

_How could this have happened? I should have been there for her! I'm supposed to keep an eye out for her and I failed. I left her out of my sight for a moment and this happens._

"What's wrong Roxas?" Naminé asked tenderly.

His eyes met hers. _I can't let something like this ever happen again._

"Roxas?" she looked genuinely worried now. "Please tell me what's wrong?"

"What's wrong?" Roxas's voice was laced in contempt. "I failed you, that's what's wrong."

"Roxas, you didn't kno-"

"But if I'd come along with you girls, none of this would have happened." Roxas hissed. He hated himself, for the first time in his entire life, he hated himself.

"Please don't blame yourself, Roxas." Naminé whispered. "None of this was your fault."

Roxas shook his head. "I won't let this happen again. Look at me in the eyes, Naminé."

When their eyes met, it seemed as if the world had stopped, as if they were the only inhabitants in the planet.

"I promise you, nothing or anyone will ever harm you again." Roxas said gravely. "I will stay by you at all times and keep you safe from harm."

He took her in his arms as his mind processed every emotion running through him.

_I'm angry at myself for not being there for her, I fucking hate Vanitas, I wished I could have ripped his face off and…  
><em>_**What else? There is another emotion here you need to accept.  
><strong>__I…I'm scared…  
><em>_**Of what? What could you possibly be scared of?**_

Roxas felt Naminé's arms wrap around him, her head leaning against his chest. Roxas closed his eyes and rested his head against hers.

_I…I'm scared of losing her. I've never been so scared in my life before.  
><em>_**And why is that? Isn't she like a 'sister' to you?  
><strong>__No, she's not._

Roxas opened his eyes and looked down at her; her cerulean blue orbs seemed to sparkle with tears. He was amazed that she hadn't cried after the beating she had been given. He admired her bravery; he admired that unlike any other girl, Naminé had not given into tears.

Roxas ran his fingers through her soft hair.

_**So what is she then?  
><strong>__The girl I'm in love with._


	11. Unnoticed

**IT. IS. FINALLY. DONE. Goodness, did this take forever to get out! If anyone read my bio, I mentioned that my computer crashed and that is the source of such an immense delay...and then the holidays came and the family get-together things started...but I am now back!**

**I hope all my awesome readers are still around, and I hope you'll find this chapter to your liking! I had previously done a chapter entirely from Roxas's POV, so this one is from **Naminé's POV.****

**I do not own Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy or Disney.**

* * *

><p><strong>Unnoticed<strong>

**Friday, May 22**

"_I promise you, nothing or anyone will ever harm you again."_

The words danced around in her mind over and over endlessly; she looked deeply into Roxas's sky blue eyes and knew that his words were sincere. Roxas looked down at her left hand, brought it to his lips and kissed it, making her heart beat over 100mph. Naminé's cheeks burned and her lips quivered. Their eyes locked together and the world came to a steady halt.

Roxas let go of her hand and gently stroked her cheek; Naminé's eyes fluttered to a close as she instinctively leaned into his palm. She didn't know why her body reacted that way; it was as if her body was on auto pilot, as if her body just knew what to do. She felt his other hand stroking her other cheek, before his hands tilted her head upward.

Naminé opened her eyes and was rather surprised to find his face so close to hers. Her face heated up more when he leaned in and their noses touched. His right thumb lightly rubbed her lower lip, and her mouth automatically parted. Roxas placed small, tender kisses on her left cheek, slowly trailing and kissing her chin.

_What is this feeling? My body is so warm and my heart feels like it's going to explode. _

His lips lightly grazed hers, his head tilted to the side and her hands gripped his shirt. Her eyelashes fluttered to a close as his left hand moved away ran it down her neck. "Naminé…"

_Why is it that my name has such a special ring to it whenever he says it? How is it possible that I have fallen in love with Roxas when I've barely known him for a week and a half? _

…_but does that really matter anymore? Love has no logic, love doesn't need logic. Love blossoms unexpectedly without warning, like an uninvited guest. But a welcomed guest. _

Roxas pressed his lips on her forehead, and she could tell he was hesitating. The reason for his reluctance was completely lost in her…was he nervous? But if he was nervous…then what was he nervous for?

His lips kept pressing against hers, but it wasn't a kiss that much she could tell. But even still her heart began to pick up speed as he pressed his body closer to hers, wrapping his arms tightly around her. His lips moved away from hers causing her to feel rather disappointed that he hadn't kissed her fully in the mouth, but rather he gave her small kisses all around her forehead and cheeks.

Roxas pressed his forehead against hers as they stood rooted in front of the Women's VIP bathroom vanity. Naminé's eyes briefly wondered to the vanity mirror behind Roxas and marveled at the reflection of the two of them embracing.

_I want to be like this every day, safely nestled in his warm arms. _

"Naminé," Roxas spoke in a serious voice. "I don't want you to think that I'll falter on my promise."

Naminé looked up at him and saw a fiery determination glowing in his beautiful sky colored orbs.

"I take promises very seriously." He said. "When I make one, I follow through with it. Nothing, and I mean nothing, will ever harm you again."

"I believe you Roxas."

And she meant it. Just as she believed his words, she hoped he would believe hers. She hoped that he would see the sincerity in her eyes, and that just like him, she took promises very seriously. They continued to gaze into one another's eyes for a few more moments when Naminé's ears picked up the faint sound of a throat being cleared.

The petite blonde looked over her shoulder to watch Kairi walking in with an expression on her face that clearly said that she was mentally kicking herself for walking in on them. Roxas let go of Naminé, but Kairi didn't pay any attention to this gesture.

"I really hate to interrupt you guys, but we have a bit of a problem in our hands." The redhead huffed.

"What is it?" Roxas asked as he stepped closer to Kairi.

"We need to leave here unnoticed." She replied. "I don't know if you've noticed that other than Riku, the rest of us are covered with facial injuries."

It was only then that Naminé became aware of a faint feeling of pain coming from her upper lip, along with a burning sensation on her right wrist. She also noticed the feeling of an oncoming headache and assumed that she had some sort of injury on her forehead.

"We can't just walk out of the place like nothing," Kairi continued. "Especially with all the paparazzi waiting outside Oblivion's doors."

Roxas sighed and scratched the back of his head. "So we can't just bolt of the place and straight into the limo…"

"Yeah, a limo isn't exactly inconspicuous." Kairi added.

"We could call up a cab instead." Naminé suggested.

"That's an excellent idea, but that still leaves the problem of getting out in the first place." Roxas said.

"Xion has the cabs covered." Kairi sighed. "Let's go see if either Xion or Sora came up with something."

The two blonds followed the auburn beauty out of the women's VIP restroom, down the main hallway, past the VIP room reserved for them and came to a stop by the stairs. There, they found Xion sitting down on the first step with Sora sitting next to her. Both looked up at the sound of approaching footsteps. Sora immediately smiled upon seeing Kairi, while she sat down next to him and rested her head on his shoulder.

"Anyone got any ideas?" Sora asked hopefully as he rested his head on Kairi's.

"Other than calling a cab, nothing yet." Roxas murmured.

"Yeah about that…" Xion exhaled. "I can call a cab fine and all, but I don't even know what time to tell the dispatcher to send the cab here."

"We can't stay here." Kairi said in a rather worried tone. "Even if Riku tells Terra and Aqua that we're tired, they'll want to make sure for themselves that we aren't sick or anything. Trust me; they'll go Papa Wolf and Mama Bear on us when they see our faces."

Roxas pulled out his cell and scowled. "Shit."

"What's wrong Roxas?" Naminé asked.

"Terra and Aqua aren't the only ones to worry about." Roxas said as he texted back.

"What do you mean?" Sora frowned.

"Axel overheard Riku talking to Terra and Aqua, so now he wants to know where we're at." Roxas answered.

"Oh crap." Xion exhaled tiredly. "He's just as bad as the other two."

"But why?" Sora asked. "I mean, I get that you're best friends and all, but it's not like he's your brother."

"He certainly considers himself one." Xion replied. "Axel appointed himself my surrogate brother and by extension Kairi's."

While the two cousins and sisters continued talking about Axel and his big brother instinct, something stirred in Naminé's memory. Earlier that evening, Eraqus had mentioned that Oblivion had two different sides; one was for general public entry and the other was for social media events.

_I wonder…maybe there's a door somewhere around here that could lead us to the public area. We can have a cab meet us there and avoid the press members! We're not known yet, so it's not like people would be able to pin point us!_

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of approaching footsteps coming from behind her. Naminé turned around to see who it was and smiled upon seeing Riku's figure. Her smile faded somewhat when she noticed the odd expression on his face, like if he had just woken up from a nightmare. He looked up and gave Naminé a quick, forced smile as he stood beside her.

"What happened?" Naminé asked the silveret. At this, the other four looked over and noticed the arrival of the tall silver haired youth.

Riku sighed and dug his hands inside his loose-fitting jeans pockets. "I told Terra that we were all feeling worn out from this whole ordeal."

"What did he say?" Sora asked.

"He gave me a rather unconvinced look." Riku replied. "But he nodded and said that we could go home, though he did assure me that he'd call tomorrow."

"We'll think of some excuse to say." Roxas said.

"But what do we do about our injuries?" Xion murmured as she touched the cut on her left eyebrow.

"Not to mention Aqua's involvement is imminent." Kairi said tiredly. "She'll want to make sure we're okay personally. Again, Mama Bear."

"Let's worry about Papa Wolf and Mama Bear later." Roxas insisted. "We still have to come up with a way of getting out of this place without being seen."

"Um…" Naminé piped up. "Is there a door that leads to the public area from here?"

"There should be." Xion answered as she stood up and looked down at the first floor below.

Sora stood up from his seat and helped Kairi to her feet. "Wanna go look for the door?" he asked brightly.

Kairi smiled radiantly. "Bet you I'll find it before you do!"

"Not likely!" Sora beamed.

As the two ran down the stairs, Xion fumbled around with her beaded purse muttering as she did. "Stupid phone!"

"Having problems there Xion?" Riku asked causally with a small smile on his face.

"Yeah." She puffed her cheeks. "As always, whenever I need my phone, it magically disappears into the vortex inside my purse."

Naminé tried her hardest to refrain from giggling, while Roxas snickered and Riku chuckled. The silveret pulled out his own phone from inside his jeans and looked over at the small-framed brunette. "Who are you trying to call Xion?"

Xion looked up from her purse and faced Riku. "I wanted to call up a couple of taxis. If we leave on a limo, we'll draw attention to ourselves."

"Good point." Riku replied. He extended his hand for her to take and then helped her stand up. "Here, go ahead and call."

Xion smiled warmly and took his phone. "Thanks Riku."

Roxas pulled out his own cell phone and his eyes widened. "We should leave this area. Like right now."

"What is it?" Naminé asked as he ushered her forward.

"Axel."

The quartet hastened down the stairs before the fiery redheaded man found them. After all, he would ask questions, and right now, none of them were willing to answer.

"Where do you think Sora and Kairi are?" Riku asked no one in particular.

"No clue," Xion replied. "But let's start by the reception area."

They rounded a corner which would lead them to their destination, where sure enough, the jovial brunet and red haired beauty were spotted by the reception desk.

"What are you guys doing?" Roxas asked.

Sora turned around with a panicked look on his face. "I think I know why the receptionist didn't call for help."

"What?"

Naminé gasped in horror; on the floor was the orange haired Vanille, completely unconscious. Her head was resting on her left arm and there was a small trail of blood running down from the back of her head.

Sora and Kairi kneeled downward and helped Vanille sit up, but the young woman kept falling to the side, having to yet regain her bearings.

"What are we gonna do?" Naminé said worriedly. "We can't just leave her like this!"

"At the same time we can't risk being seen." Xion added in an equally worried tone.

Kairi looked up at Sora and gravely whispered. "…Vanitas did this, didn't he?"

Sora's expression darkened. "More than likely."

"What are you all doing?"

All six of them jumped at the sound of Axel's voice. It was only Riku that turned to face the lanky redhead, as none of the other five could.

"Axel, can you get some medical attention for Vanille, the receptionist?" Riku asked.

"Sure okay." Axel's voice was dripped in bewilderment. "Not to sound like a jerk, but why haven't you guys called anyone?"

"We can't." Riku answered.

"And why not?" Axel asked in a puzzled tone.

"We just can't." Riku answered firmly.

"Okay then…" Axel said dryly. "I'm going out on a limb here to guess that it's the reason why you're the only one looking at me."

Naminé felt her heart hammering inside her chest as guilt washed over her. From her peripheral vision she could see Roxas looking equally guilty. She looked in front of her and saw that Sora and the two sisters had their backs facing Axel.

"You are correct." Riku said bleakly. "Look, we need to leave here and fast. We also cannot be seen."

"You know I'm all up for sneaking around, but in this case you're gonna tell me what the hell is going on." He said in an imposing voice. "Unless you'd rather explain yourselves to Terra and Aqua."

At this, Naminé's heart picked more speed, especially when she saw that Xion had turned to face Axel.

"What the hell happened to you Xion?" Axel hissed worriedly. "I want a name right now! And don't you dare lie to me!"

"Axel, just please help us find a way out." Xion pleaded. "I promise that I'll tell you everything, but we need to leave first."

Sora and Kairi also decided to face Axel, though they looked incredibly uncomfortably in doing so. Having little to no choice, Roxas and Naminé decided to follow their example and turned to look at the redhead as well.

Axel's jade eyes widened at the sight of the injured quintuplets. "What the hell…what the fuck happened? Start talking. ALL of you."

"We can't." Roxas replied. "Not right now. We need to leave unnoticed, we can't draw the media's attention."

"No, I demand an explanation." Axel hissed.

"Dammit Axel!" Xion hissed in desperation. "I already told you that I'd tell you everything later! What part are you not getting!"

"What part are _you_ not getting?" Axel snapped. "You seriously cannot be expecting me to help you make a great escape without at least knowing who did this to you!"

"It was my brother." Sora replied darkly.

"How the hell did he get in here?" Axel growled.

"He had invitation, how else?" Kairi grumbled.

"Goddamn." Axel muttered. "Where is he now?"

Riku shrugged. "He took off after the beating we gave him."

"That's one good thing." Axel grumbled. "Okay fine, I'll help you out. But don't think I'll let this go; expect me to drop by at your house tomorrow guys."

"Oh um…" Xion mumbled. "Kairi and I are gonna spend the night at their house."

"You're what?" Axel hissed sharply. "Not happening."

"Axel what other choice is there?" Kairi said despairingly. "You can't expect us to go home to grandma looking like this!"

Axel mouthed soundlessly for a few seconds, clearly trying to come up with a good reason why the two sisters couldn't stay at a house with four men. After a few seconds he threw his arms in the air as a sign of resignation.

"Fine!" he hissed. "But let me warn you boys; if either of my little sisters is deflowered, I'll incinerate you alive until nothing but dust is left."

"Axel!" the two sisters hissed.

"Dude, come on!" Sora huffed. "You seriously think any of us would do something like that?"

"For your sake, I hope not." Axel deadpanned.

Vanille stirred from behind them as her viridian orbs tried to gain focus. "Wh-what happened?"

"Do you know how we can get to the public are?" Xion hissed urgently at Axel.

"Go around and you'll see the door that will lead to the other side." He replied. "You can't miss it."

Sora was the first to sprint in the direction Axel spoke of while holding onto Kairi's hand. Roxas followed second, then Naminé. She heard Xion thank Axel before she ran behind Naminé with Riku ensuring the sister's wellbeing.

After running down a wide hallway they came to a stop, Sora and Kairi stood in front of a door by the back wall. Sora was talking animatedly with the redhead, his arms moving about with every word that he spoke. Kairi looked quite endeared with his peculiar way of expressing himself, as she smiled warmly and lovingly at him. Sora's attention was momentarily torn away from Kairi when he spotted the approaching quartet and he looked quite please with himself as he pointed to the door behind him.

"Are you sure that this is the right door?" Riku asked skeptically.

"Of course it is!" Sora grinned. "We made sure of it ourselves!"

"Kairi, can you confirm this claim?" Riku asked seriously.

Kairi tried to suppress her laughter as Sora rolled his eyes. "Why yes, Riku. This door does indeed lead to the public area."

"Oh good." Riku sighed in relief. "I was worried that Sora would lead us in the wrong direction."

"Gee, thanks Riku." Sora frowned. "Good to know you trust your best friend."

"Sora, don't misunderstand." Riku chuckled. "I trust you with my life, but not with directions."

"When have I ever gotten us lost?" Sora looked mortally offended.

"Even I can think of a few times." Roxas grinned. "There's the time we went to the zoo, when we went to Disneyland, that time we got lost at the mall 'cause you wanted to go to the toy store but you refused to use a directory, oh and on –"

"I get it, I get it!" Sora fumed.

"And who could forget that time when you were six?" Riku snickered. "You went the wrong way and you made you and Roxas miss the school bus and missed the trip to the Aquarium?"

It was becoming progressively harder to maintain a straight face and Naminé wasn't sure how much she could last. Kairi and Xion had already given in to the hysterics.

Sora rolled his eyes. "Oh for crying out loud, I was six!"

"And then, when we were ten, we were in a museum field trip and you went in the opposite direction and we missed the bus back to school." Roxas added, continuing to add to Naminé's problem of keeping in her laughter. "And to make matters worse, when the museum staff called our parents, they had told us to stay put. But genius over here said that we could make it back home on our own and like a bonehead I followed him."

Naminé covered her mouth; she was literally seconds away from cracking.

"An hour later and we ended up farther away from home and into the desolate, unpopulated jungle area of the main island." Roxas shook his head.

"I remember that you guys made the 5 o'clock news." Riku snickered. "My dad went over to the police station to help search for you guys."

"Wait, there were search parties involved?" Naminé asked Riku.

"Two ten year old boys lost? You better believe it." He chuckled.

"How did you guys get back home?" Kairi chortled.

"We were found two hours later by a search crew in the middle of the jungle." Sora muttered. "They took us back to our house and my mom completely fell apart when she saw us."

"Poor Stella." Naminé said warmheartedly.

"Your poor mom." Kairi said with a crooked smile. "What a way to make her worry, Sora."

"It was unintentional!" Sora sputtered defensively. "It's not like I meant for us to get lost and make headline news!"

The other five let out a wave of laughter as Sora scowled. Kairi loped one of her arms around his and rested her head on his shoulder.

Riku looked up at the stairs and his emerald eyes widened in panic. "I suggest we get going unless you want Terra to see your injuries."

"What?" Kairi and Xion both looked up to the second floor.

Sora opened the door behind him and ran off with Kairi, Roxas pushed Xion forward and grabbed Naminé's hand and they ran down the hallway before them. Riku closed the door behind him and Naminé extended her hand to him; he took it and she pulled him forward as she was being pulled by Roxas. Xion ran in front of Roxas as Kairi was now holding her sister's hand and the other was holding onto Sora as he ran forward. Sora reached another door and quickly pushed it open as one by one, they all ran past the doorway.

The lobby of the public side was identical to the VIP one, with the sole exception that this area was packed with people.

"Everyone hold hands!" Sora yelled over the loud indistinct chatter of the crowd.

Xion quickly took hold of Roxas's free hand as they attempted to make their way through the sea of people. As they went, they all muttered 'excuse me' and 'sorry', Naminé decided to bow her head at the risk of being remotely recognized. It was highly unlikely, but she refused to take that chance, especially with her facial injuries.

She had o idea where they were going or what direction they were taking; her eyes could only see the shiny floor beneath her and the shoes of other passersby's. She didn't like the feeling of being pulled and then stopping abruptly only to be yanked again. She knew it was unavoidable given their situation, but she really wished that they would reach the main entrance already.

Naminé closed her eyes, reasoning that things would hopefully go much faster this way. The pulling and the stopping continued for several minutes before she felt the cool night breeze washing over her. She opened her eyes and saw the busy sidewalk and the streets filled with cars as they were speeding by. The street lights were a welcomed sight and their running came to a slow halt. But neither Roxas nor Riku's hands loosened their grip on her hands, even when they stood completely still.

The crowd outside waiting to get inside Oblivion stared curiously at them, the six of them were panting heavily as if they had run a marathon.

"What now?" Sora huffed.

Xion let go of Roxas and Kairi's hands, walked over to the curb and looked to her left. "We'll get on the first cab we see."

A few seconds passed when she held out her hand up and a taxi van stopped in front of her. She looked back over her shoulder as the rest walked up to her.

"Any particular seating arrangement?" Xion asked.

The rest shook their heads as Sora hopped inside the vehicle first. After he sat at the very back, Kairi followed and she sat down next to him. Naminé felt Riku letting go of her hand and then saw him walking to Xion.

"Get in." he said in a nonthreatening tone. Xion was a bit taken back but she nodded. She got inside the van and took the space next to her sister, while Riku turned to look back at Naminé. "You're next, Snow."

It was only at this point that Roxas's grip on her right hand loosened. He walked with her towards the taxi van and helped her climb inside. As soon as Naminé had sat down on the middle seat she felt someone sitting down next to her.

Roxas closed the sliding door, rolling his eyes in annoyance. He then sat down next to Riku, as the silveret had been the one to immediately sit next to her. Naminé looked at Riku beside her as he rested his head against the seat. Naminé leaned against the window, the cool glass sharply clashing with her heated face.

"Where to?" the driver asked.

"358 Kingdom Key Street." Sora replied from the back seat.

The cab pulled away from the curb and into the streets. The ride to their home was a rather quiet one, as each youth was drained out due to the earlier events. Naminé herself felt a bit hollow; images of the fight with Vanitas flashing in her mind repeatedly. Her small hands balled up into fists, her heart felt immensely heavy with boiling anger.

_I don't like feeling this way, all these negative emotions stirring within me…it's frightening. I feel angry that I couldn't do much to defend Kairi, Xion or myself. I feel guilty that we had to lie to Axel, and more than likely, we'll have to lie to Terra and Aqua. I feel horrible that Roxas blames himself for what happened when it wasn't his fault. But more than anything, I…_

She shivered and sunk in her seat. _I'm terrified of seeing Vanitas again. _

Naminé looked outside her window, watching the city lights become blurs as the taxi continued its way across the city. It looked like a rainbow kaleidoscope, like pieces of crystallized colors creating abstract shapes that seemed to dance around. It looked almost like two figure skaters spinning all around the street, as if that was an ice rink. The more she looked at the crystal lights, the more they looked like a bit like her and Roxas.

He was wearing a powder blue shirt and black pants and she was dressed in an orange like tutu with a yellow ribbon tied to her waist. Naminé watched these crystallized versions of themselves skate towards each other; their hands closed together as the crystal Roxas picked the crystal Naminé up and they spun around together. But like the glass figures they were, they fell apart into little pieces as the crystal lights returned to the street lamps they belonged to. Naminé blinked as she realized that they had arrived at their home, she had been so busy watching the crystal versions of herself and Roxas that she hardly noticed that the trip had ended.

Roxas opened the sliding door and jumped out. One by one, each of the tired out occupants jumped out of the taxi van, and by the looks of it, it appeared that Sora and the two sisters had fallen asleep during the ride. The three of them looked rather drowsy as they stumbled slightly when they got out of the vehicle. Once Sora had gained his footing, he along with Roxas and Riku, paid the driver. After the driver had received his payment he pulled out of their drive way and drove down the hill side road. Sora walked up to the main gate and pulled out a pair of keys. He inserted a classic skeleton with a gold colored guard that had an odd blade-like length and the teeth were crowned shaped. Sora inserted the key into the gate's keyhole and pushed the gate open.

The six of them trudged up the stone paved path to the house, with Riku being the last as he had closed the gate after them. Sora pulled out his keys again and opened the front door, leaving it wide open for the rest of them to enter the house. They all kicked off their shoes absentmindedly and walked off in different directions. Naminé walked over to the kitchen, opened the fridge and pulled out a cool water bottle. It felt like her throat was on fire, and the icy fresh water quenched it as it went down her throat. Her eyes looked around until they had landed on the microwave and noticed the time.

It was 11:47pm.

They had left for Oblivion at around 7pm, had nearly five hours already passed? Naminé looked at her reflection on the microwave's door saw her wounds. She touched her cupid's bow and she flinched slightly; she then noticed a big bruise under her left eye, and what appeared to be a gash on her forehead. She touched her gash lightly and felt a faint pang of pain, but then her eyes fell on her right wrist. She hadn't stopped to think of how much her wrist was hurting, but then again, given the past events in the last five hours she didn't have the time to think about much of anything.

She looked back at her wrist and felt tears welling up…she could clearly hear Vanitas's maniacal laughter echoing in her mind.

"Does it hurt?"

Naminé jumped into the air at the sound of the voice. She turned around and saw Riku walking in with an apologetic look on his face.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." He said softly. "I should have announced myself."

"It's okay, don't worry about it." Naminé smiled.

"Does it hurt when you move it?" Riku asked as he moved closer to her. He gently took her hand and moved her it, carefully watching her face for any signs of pain.

"A little bit." She replied.

He let go of her wrist and walked over to one of the drawers on the kitchen island and pulled out a clean kitchen cloth. He then walked over to the refrigerator and opened the freezer door. Naminé could hear him rummaging through the ice box and sure enough, Riku grabbed a couple of ice cubes and wrapped them inside the cloth.

"Follow me." He smiled.

The two walked over to the dining room where Riku pulled out a chair for her and then pulled out a chair for himself, so that they would be sitting side-by-side. Once they had sat down, Riku took her right wrist and gently placed the icy cloth over Vanitas's long finger imprints.

Naminé shivered when the coldness of the cloth came in contact with her skin. Riku slowly moved the cloth around her wrist in a circular motion.

"I'm doing this to bring down the swelling." He said warmly.

"Oh, thank you." Naminé smiled at him. She looked up at Riku's face and was met with soul-piercing verdigris orbs. Naminé felt her cheeks heating up under his intense gaze, her mind screaming at her to look away but her eyes wouldn't obey. She was completely immersed in his jade pools.

_How much of me does he know? Roxas is pretty convinced that Riku knows I'm a girl, but…does he really know?_

She finally managed to break eye contact with the handsome silveret, which didn't go unnoticed by him.

"Is something wrong?" Riku's smooth voice was laced in concern; he even stopped the circular motion on her wrist.

"Riku…" She had rasped his name out, but cleared her throat and spoke in her normal feminine voice. "How long have you known?"

"From the beginning." He replied. "I recognized you as the girl I bumped into at the audition."

Naminé looked up at Riku, but didn't meet his gaze. "How did you recognize me? I had longer hair then."

Riku chuckled. "Honestly? It was your eyes…and your hands."

Naminé raised an eyebrow in confusion. "My hands?"

"Yes." Riku spoke in an affectionate tone. "No two people have the pair of hands, not even twins. And each hand feels different from the other."

She looked down at her own small hands. "How do mine feel?"

Riku placed the ice cloth on the table and took her hand, so that their palms were directly touching. "Soft and delicate, but firm. They're smooth, warm, and feathery light…like that of a mother."

Naminé looked down at her slender fingers as they began to automatically intertwine with his. _He can feel all of that? _

She moved her palm a bit, feeling the texture of his larger hand. _It's quite rough, but yet it's still very moisturized…he must use a lot of lotion. Maybe they feel rough due to playing bass so much, or maybe he's worked a lot of manual labors. But despite the tough exterior, his hands have an unmissable tenderness. _

"Your hands feel very nice, too." She said warmly. "A bit rough, but still gentle."

Riku smiled at her and ruffled her hair with his free hand. "Thank you."

She blushed slightly and turned her gaze back to their joined hands. "Riku…why haven't you told anyone about my secret?"

"Because it's not my secret to tell." He replied. "You must have your reasons why you're doing all of this and it's not my place to judge you."

"Thank you." Naminé said softly. She wanted to ask him if he was keeping her secret in exchange for anything sex related. But if he hadn't judged her, why should she judge him?

"Don't worry," he smiled at her, as if he knew where her train of thought was headed. "I don't want anything lewd in return."

Naminé looked away feeling completely embarrassed that he correctly guessed what she had been thinking of. Riku chuckled at her expression and ruffled her hair again. "I know you haven't known me for that long, but trust me when I say that I mean you no ill will."

_His gaze and tone are so unfeigned, there's no way he's lying._

"I trust you, Riku."

Riku smiled tenderly at her. "May I have your real name? Something tells me that Snow isn't your real name."

Naminé faintly blushed. "You're right…Snow isn't my name, it's my older twin brother's name."

"So what's your name?"

"It's Naminé."

Riku placed his other hand over their clasped hands, specifically over hers. "It's nice to meet you at last, Naminé."

She let out a small giggle. "It's my pleasure, Riku."

His warm expression changed to one of curiosity. "If you don't mind me asking…why are you here, taking your brother's place?"

"Because…" She let out an agitated sigh. "My brother was the one who was supposed to sign the contract three weeks ago…but he got food poisoning that day and he wouldn't be able to make the trip to the meeting."

"So you decided to take his place?" Riku asked with a small smile.

"It was my brother's idea." Naminé replied tenderly. "He suggested the idea of dressing me up as him so that I could sign in his stead. Aqua had said that if the contract wasn't signed that very same day, then it would be void. I have to say, those are the silliest terms of contract I've ever heard of."

"That seems to be the general consensus." Riku snorted. "When we heard the terms ourselves we thought we were being trolled. But as you know, they were quite real. Anyways, please continue."

"Okay." Naminé nodded. "So Aqua called up Kairi and got the necessary garments for my disguise and we went to the meeting. I signed the contract and I assumed that would be it, I would go back to being myself and that those events would be a fond memory to laugh at in years to come. But when we arrived back at the orphanage…an ambulance appeared just minutes after us."

"What happened?" Riku asked concernedly.

"It turned out that my brother had been stubborn enough to try to leave the infirmary after being repeatedly told to stay put." Naminé wistfully replied. "In his haste to make it to Traverse Town, he fell down a staircase and suffered a hip fracture."

"And this time," Riku spoke in a soothing tone. "Whose idea was it for you to take Snow's place?"

"Mine." Naminé sighed. "I couldn't let his dream got to waste, not after I had signed the contract. Funny thing is, I had vowed that no one would discover my secret and look…"

"I'm sorry." Riku said sincerely.

"It's not your fault." Naminé said tenderly. "I should have worn gloves, that's all."

Riku let out a hearty laugh. Naminé placed her free hand above Riku's, all four hands stacked together. She met his gaze once again, no longer feeling the intensity from moments earlier. "Tell me about yourself. How did you meet Sora and Roxas?"

"That's quite a long story." He exhaled.

She leaned forward in her seat with a curious look on her face. "I've got time."

Riku raised an eyebrow and chuckled. "Alright, I'll tell you."

Naminé's attention was briefly taken away from Riku as her hears picked up noises coming from the living room, then she heard a voice saying "Mario Kart, wahoo!"

Both the blonde and the silveret laughed as indistinct chatter from the two cousins and sisters began increase in volume. Something along the lines of Kairi wanting to team up with Sora, while Roxas and Xion insisted on individual races.

"They're going to get pretty loud if any of them lose." Riku snickered.

"Let them." Naminé smiled playfully. "You have a story to tell me, right?"

"When I was five, my parents decided to move from our old apartment by the beach to a two-story home in a rural area. While the apartment had been much closer to my mom's work, she wanted me to grow up in a more family oriented environment. So we moved to an area called Door to Light, it was about ten miles away from my mom's job, who works in a retirement home and ten minutes away from my dad's job, who's a middle school music teacher. My parents were always rushing in the mornings and would often be gone by the time I had to get up for school. My mom would always leave a lunch prepared for me, which was usually a PB & J sandwich, a juice pouch and some animal crackers."

The two separated hands and Naminé rested her head on her palms, but still giving Riku her undivided attention as he spoke.

Riku leaned against his chair and continued. "I remember that the first day of school at my new elementary was rather daunting; while I didn't have friends at my old school the faces were the same and I was used to it. Here, I didn't know a single kid. So I did my best to remain from standing out as much as a new kid can. The moment that the final bell rang, I bolted out of the school. I ran back home as fast as I could, in the scorching heat of summer. I was glad that kindergartners got out an hour earlier from the rest of the school, I hate crowds. I remember that when I was nearing my house, the house from across the street caught my attention. Out in the front yard were two boys playing around with a variety of toy trucks."

Naminé smiled warmly; she knew exactly who the two boys were.

"One of the two boys noticed me as I neared my front door and waved at me yelling 'Hi!'." Riku smiled.

"Sora, right?" Naminé giggled at the mental image.

"Of course." Riku chuckled. "I hesitantly waved back at him, then just as I was about to open the front door I heard yelling at me to wait. I stopped and turned back to look at him and to my surprise, he was already sprinting his way across the street."

"How cute." Naminé cooed. "Even as a child Sora is always energetic."

"I don't think he'll ever change." Riku smiled.

"And he shouldn't." Naminé said bracingly.

The both jumped a bit in their seats when they heard Sora letting out enthusiastic cheers. Naminé covered her mouth as she laughed and Riku shook his head.

"Anyways, Sora ran up to me and asked if I wanted to go over to his house and play. I told him that I had to ask my mom for permission and he smiled saying that he'd wait. I opened the door and I found my mom sitting on a couch in the living room. I told her about Sora's invitation and she was more than thrilled to know that I was making a friend." Riku looked up at the chandelier above the dining table with a reminiscing smile. "I changed out of my school uniform and ran outside. As I ran I realized that I had agreed to play with some kid I didn't know. At school, if anyone invited me to play with them I would have said no. But there was something about Sora that made it okay to trust him, something that to this day I can't put into words."

Naminé knew what Riku meant; as she herself wouldn't have been able explain how Sora had won her trust in a short period of time.

"I got to the front yard where Sora and Roxas were playing 'construction' on the sand. After we all introduced ourselves to one another I wasted no time and joined their game." Riku said with a small smile on his handsome face.

"I bet you all got along pretty well." Naminé smiled.

Riku sighed and pursed his lips pensively. "Sora and I clicked immediately. And by that, I mean we started competing in who could demolish a sand mound the fastest. As for Roxas…I guess he felt like I was taking his cousin away from him, which to be fair, is easy to assume at that age. I only realized that later, but at that time I assumed Roxas didn't like me because I was a complete stranger. He was constantly trying to gain Sora's attention or to get Sora to play with just him. It certainly made me feel unwanted, but I also didn't know Roxas's past."

Naminé's curiosity increased at that, but she felt it was best to ask Roxas directly. After all, Riku would probably feel offended if she asked him to talk about Roxas's story.

"But aside from that, I had the best day of my life." Riku said blithely. "From then on, every day after school was out, I'd go over to Sora's house. My parents ended up becoming friends with Stella and Noctis, and every Saturday we'd go out to a small island and play there. Our parents would take us there since we were too young to row out on our own."

"Wait, you guys had your own island to play in?" Naminé asked in amazement.

"It wasn't ours necessarily," Riku chuckled. "it was an island accessible to anyone that had a row boat. My dad and Noctis built a wooden light tower for us, a small little clubhouse and a few other things to keep us busy. We were so competitive with each other in everything; we raced, we swam, we climbed every palm tree in sight. We found a small cave in the island and we drew all over the walls."

Naminé watched as Riku's face was light up with nostalgia. "We even had competitions on who could collect the most seashells. Or who could chew gum the fastest. But as we got older, we began competing in other ways."

"Like what?" Naminé smiled coyly. "To see who could get the most girlfriends?"

Riku laughed. "No, not that, I meant academically. At least it seemed like it at times. Sora was never one to be bothered with studying, as he was completely proud of his average grades and he would rarely pick up a book to read other than comic books." His tone then changed from reminiscent to dislike. "Roxas on the other hand was completely determined to best me at marks. He would claim he didn't need to study, that he could take his tests blindfolded and ace them. That would really piss me off as I would spend hours preparing for my exams. He didn't, and he would always parade his grades around. He wouldn't even consider Sora's feelings."

Naminé frowned he brows in confusion. "That doesn't sound like Roxas, at least not the one I know."

"I'll admit that he _has_ deflated his ego a bit." Riku huffed. "But this was when we were in school, when we were kids."

"People change over time." Naminé said wisely.

"True, very true." Riku sat up in his seat, grabbed the kitchen cloth and wiped away the water on the table as the ice cubes had clearly melted. He then folded the cloth into a square and placed it on top of the plastic orange table mat. "Although he certainly continues to have his moments, you should have heard him when we were learning to play our instruments."

"What did he say?" Naminé asked but then rephrased it. "How did the band get started anyways? I mean, I know Roxas was the one who came up with the idea, but did it come to be? How did you and Sora chose your instruments?"

"Whoa, one question at a time." Riku smiled as Naminé's cheeks flushed a faint pink. "When we were in high school, specifically my Junior year and Sora and Roxas's Sophomore year, Roxas became obsessed with the band The Organization. I mean, he was talking about this band nonstop, if given the chance to talk about it, he'd take it. I know he bought a bunch of merchandise from the group because his and Sora's room was covered with The Organization posters. Anyways, one day before the school year's end, Sora called me up and asked me if I wanted to join a band."

"You said yes right away, right?" Naminé smiled, knowing that Riku wouldn't have.

"Honestly? No." He laughed. "I genuinely thought that Sora was joking, but as you can tell, he wasn't. Since my dad is a music teacher, I asked for his opinion on the matter. He told me that he thought that the idea of starting our own band was a waste of time, but that the choice was entirely mine and that it was up to me to discover if being in a band was worth it."

"It sounds as if he's had a similar experience." Naminé said thoughtfully.

"I think that too, though he's never really talked about it." Riku said slowly. "That very summer, I began working at a Blitzball shop along my other friends Tidus and Wakka."

"Blitzball?" Naminé asked.

"It's a really cool but hard to understand underwater sport." Riku replied off handedly. "I spent two months working there until I had enough money to buy a bass. Now, I'm not sure how I came to the decision of buying a bass, it just looked cool and I wanted to try it. But other than that, no real reason."

"Boo." Naminé pouted.

"Sorry the heavens didn't part and a beam of light didn't illuminate my brain to help me choose my bass." Riku said in mock indignation. "But I did feel immensely proud of my bass; it was after all, the fruit of my hard labor."

"That bass must mean a lot to you." Naminé said warmly. "Did you give it a name?"

"I debated about what to call it at first. I ended up with Soul Eater, but I changed my mind and later decided to call my bass The Way to Dawn." He gave Naminé a shamed look. "Pretentious name isn't it?"

"No, I like it!" she said with zest. "My art room back at the orphanage is called Ocean Waves."

"You have your own art room?" Riku asked in amazement.

"I worked as an art teacher there." She smiled proudly. Though the smile faded when she realized that she had been away from her children for almost a week. She wondered if any of her kids missed her, if any of them had drawn pictures for her. And it hit her; she wouldn't see any of their faces for an unspecified amount of time. She wouldn't be able to take her beloved class outside so that the kids could paint beautiful nature backgrounds onto blank canvas. And she had plans to teach the kids about watercolors.

Naminé felt the tears welling up in her eyes as her mind recalled how much she had looked forward to that lesson. _There were so many things I wanted to teach the kids…who knows when I'll be able to. _

"Naminé?"

She had lowered her arms and bowed her head so that Riku wouldn't see her tears. "Don't mind me, please continue."

He reached out and grabbed her left hand which had been resting on the table and closed his fingers around it. "Are you sure? Do you want to go lay down instead?"

Naminé shook her head. "No, I'm alright. I want to hear more of your story."She finally looked up at him, completely aware that he'd see the trail her tears left.

"Okay, if you insist." He sighed. "As I was saying, I was really proud of my bass, it was the first big purchase I had made with my own money."

Naminé noticed how his expression changed in a matter of seconds. He looked resentful and his tone of voice was bitter.

"When Sora showed me his drum set, I was genuinely happy for him. Even when Roxas showed me his electric guitar I congratulated him. But that didn't last too long when Roxas mentioned that their instruments had been gifts from Stella and Noctis." His expression darkened and he scowled. "I'd be lying if I said I wasn't jealous. I mean, there I was working my ass off to buy my own instrument and they got theirs as gifts."

While Naminé knew that Sora's parents treated Roxas like a son, she clearly understood Riku's frustration. It wasn't fair to have to work for something so hard and to watch loved ones get everything served in a silver platter.

"I sound bitter, don't I?" Riku muttered.

"I get where you're coming from, Riku." She said softly. She sat up straight in her seat and wiped her cheeks. "Is that the reason why you hate Roxas? Because he got his guitar as a gift?"

Riku let out a heaving sigh and slouched in his seat. "I don't hate Roxas, I really don't. But he's no saint worthy of my devotion."

"But why do you dislike him so much?" Naminé asked intently.

"Because he thinks he's the shit and acts like he's better than everyone else." Riku hissed. "For the longest time and even recently, he loved to remind Sora and I that if it weren't for him there wouldn't be a band in the first place."

Naminé was having a hard time believing that Roxas would be such a jerk. "He just seems so different to me."

"Of course he does." Riku snapped. "He acts differently according to whom he's talking to."

Naminé heard loud cheering from the living room and she looked over her shoulder towards the kitchen area. "Sounds like Sora is winning."

"Naminé, be careful around Roxas." Riku said seriously. I don't know what he'd do if he found out your secret."

"He wouldn't do anything harmful towards me." Naminé replied in soft voice.

Riku gave her a thoughtful look, taking in her words and the expression on her face. "I hope you're right, but Roxas has severe trust issues."

_But I'm not a stranger anymore. Even before Roxas found out my secret, he thought of me as a younger brother. I keep hearing that Roxas has severe dislike of strangers and yet, he's surrounded by them and he seems fine._

Naminé was about to open her mouth when another thought popped in her head. _Wait, Riku speaks as if Roxas doesn't know my secret…_

"Riku…" Naminé said quietly. "Do you think Roxas might know?"

Riku leaned forward so that he was closer to her. "I can't say he knows because I'm not a 100% sure, but there is a possibility that he might suspect something."

Naminé bit her lower lip. _What would happen if I tell Riku that Roxas knows? What would happen if I tell _Roxas _that _Riku_ knows? _She looked up at the silveret with a worried face. _I have to be honest with the two of them, they've both looked after me and I can't let them be distrustful of each other. _

"Riku, the truth-"

Riku placed both of his hands on top of her left hand. "Don't worry too much about this, Naminé. I promise I'll look out for you."

"But Roxas kno-"

"Don't worry about Roxas, I'll keep my eyes on him."

"HA! TAKE THAT BLUE TEAM!" Sora roared enthusiastically.

Naminé nearly jumped out of her seat, but Riku managed quickly to hold her in place by grabbing her shoulders. Her heart was hammering rapidly as Riku sniggered.

"You cheated!" Xion snapped. "You took a shortcut on the last lap!"

"It's not cheating if the game places shortcuts for the gamer's convenience!" Kairi said playfully. "Or that Sora is awesome."

"Awesome my ass!" Roxas laughed. "Rematch Sora!"

Naminé couldn't help but giggle at the quartet's banter.

Riku shook his head and moved his hands away from Naminé's shoulders. "We better get over there before they tear themselves apart."

He stood up from his seat and held out his hand to her. She took it and he helped her up, before making their way to the living room.

Sora and Kairi were once again sitting in the loveseat couch while Roxas and Xion sat on the bean bag chairs in the middle of the living room near the TV. Naminé looked at the screen and saw that it was divided in four individual squares, one for each player character.

"Who's who?" Riku asked as he and Naminé walked past the kitchen doorway.

Sora looked up with a mildly surprised expression. "Whoa, we thought you guys were already asleep!"

"What made you think that?" Naminé smiled as she followed Riku to the leather couch near the wall. Her eyes glanced over at the back of Roxas's head.

"We didn't see you anywhere." Kairi replied, her oceanic orbs focused on the TV before her.

"Did you try looking for us?" Riku raised an eyebrow as he sat down nest to Naminé.

"Yeah, but we couldn't find you." Xion answered.

"I looked out by the pool." Sora said.

"I checked the kitchen." Kairi added.

"I knocked on your bedroom doors, but no one replied so I assumed you were passed out." Xion said pensively.

"…I checked the parlor." Roxas said in an emotionless voice. "And the dining room."

_What? But that's where Riku and were talking…the…entire…time. Oh no, of course he saw us together! Please tell me he didn't see us holding hands! I hope he didn't hear us talking about him!_

"How did you not see us then?" Riku asked in a suspicious tone. "Snow and I have been there since we got back."

"You weren't there when I checked." Roxas answered dryly.

"But we have been there the entire time!" Riku hissed.

"I didn't see you at all." Roxas hissed through gritted teeth.

He was angry, there was no denying that. Naminé wanted to talk to Roxas privately and reassure him that nothing romantic happened between her and Riku. But much to her dismay, Roxas was completely absorbed in the game he was playing and would only join any of the conversations if they had anything to with the game.

"Kairi, Xion, did you call your grandma to tell her you're staying at 'Aqua's' place?" Naminé asked, hoping to somehow draw Roxas's attention.

"Oh crap, I totally forgot to do that!" Kairi paused the game and jumped out of her seat. She ran into the kitchen and a few seconds later, Naminé could hear Kairi speaking.

"Aren't you girls afraid that your might call up Aqua to verify if you're really at her house?" Sora asked Xion.

"Not really." Xion yawned. "Our grandma knows Aqua and trusts her wholeheartedly. Our grandma loves Aqua to pieces and wouldn't think that we'd be lying about staying over at Aqua's place."

Kairi walked back from the kitchen with a guilty look on her face. "Everything is all set, except for giving Aqua grandma's love. I hate lying to grandma; it makes me feel like I'm some delinquent."

"I know Kairi, but we really don't have much of a choice." Xion relied solemnly.

The racing continued and at a few times, Naminé and Riku took turns. At around 2am, Naminé found it increasingly difficult to keep her eyes open, even with all the loud cheering and arguments going on around her. She leaned her had back and slowly watched as the white colored ceiling began to swirl, before her eyes came to a close. The hardness of the leather couch began to soften and become rather warm for some inexplicable reason. The noises from the game became distant, and the voices of her friends became distorted, like if they were covering their mouths when they spoke. She felt something warm cover her body and curled up automatically.

_Did someone put a blanket over me? How nice of them…wait…_

She opened her eyes and tried to gain focus. She saw that Roxas, Sora, Riku and Xion were playing Brawl while Kairi was sleeping on the loveseat. Sora was sitting at the foot of the loveseat, right next to Kairi's head. Naminé looked down at her body and saw that indeed, someone had draped a blanket over her. She sat up in her seat and Xion looked over at her.

"Snow?" Xion blinked. "Oh no, did we wake you?"

"No." Naminé replied drowsily. "I woke up on my own."

"Hey you wanna play Brawl?" Sora asked brightly.

"No, but thank you Sora." Naminé rasped. "I see Kairi passed out."

"Yeah, she crashed about an hour ago." Xion giggled.

"Wait, what time is it?" Naminé was sure she'd been asleep for at _least _ten minutes.

"It's 4:45am." Riku replied.

"What?" Naminé gasped. "I was out for two hours?"

"Yup!" Sora grinned. "You talk in your sleep, by the way."

"I do?" Naminé asked worriedly. "What did I say?"

"You don't talk in your sleep, Snow." Xion smiled. "Sora's just kidding."

Naminé shook her head. "You scared me Sora."

"Sorry." Sora pursed his lips sheepishly.

Naminé watched the quartet fight for a few minutes. The three guys had picked the same character from the last time they played and Xion was using another swordsman with blue hair and a quick, lethal fighting style. At least it looked like a man, Naminé wasn't too sure.

"Well, I'll be going to my room." Naminé yawned. She stood up and began making her way to the stairs when she stopped and looked over at the sleeping redhead. "You know, she could sleep in my room."

Sora paused the game and looked at Naminé with a stiff expression. "No need for that Snow. Kairi will sleep in my room while I camp over in Roxas's room."

"You are?" Roxas raised an eyebrow.

"Yes." Sora smiled.

Naminé held back her laughter. "Okay Sora. Xion if you want, you can sleep in my room."

"I'll take you up on your offer, Snow." Xion smiled as she stood up and walked over to Naminé.

"Cool, we can sleep in my bed." Naminé yawned.

Sora looked from Naminé to Xion and grinned in a suggestive manner that made Naminé feel rather uncomfortable. "Have a good night you two."

"Ew, get your mind out of the gutter." Xion frowned. "We're just friends."

"With benefits?" Sora grinned widely.

"Sora…" Riku said in a warning tone. "It's rather late for risqué jokes."

"You're taking this the wrong way." Naminé rasped pleadingly.

"Uh huh." Sora smiled in a smug manner. "That's what they all say. But just remember to use protection!"

"Sora!" the other four snapped.

He laughed but stopped when Riku threw a couch pillow right into his face. As the girls walked up the stairs they heard Sora snapping back at Riku, until Roxas stopped the fight.

"Men." Xion rolled her eyes. "Can't live with them, can't live without them and you definitely can't ever understand them. They're life's greatest mystery."

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><p><strong>Hope this was worth the wait, folks! Please don't forget to read and review! See ya next update!<strong>


	12. Dreaming of the Past

**I'm trying to get back into the habit of updating every two weeks like I used to. We'll see if time will allow this. Anyways, here's the next chapter and I hope you all like it! Once again, thank you guys for your reviews, they are very helpful and motivational! Also thank you to all who favorite and alert to this story, you guys are also well loved!**

**I do not own Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy or Disney.**

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><p><strong>Dreaming of the Past<strong>

**Saturday, May 23**

The sun's rays broke into her room, creating a beautiful ray of brand new light. Naminé had finished walking out of her bathroom and saw that the sun was coming from the window between her bed and dresser. She walked over to her window and moved the cream colored curtains aside. She shielded her eyes from the harsh glare momentarily, as the sun's light was being reflected by the pool beneath. Once her cerulean orbs had adjusted, she took in the sight before her.

It was breathtaking.

The sun was rising over the forested hills, coloring them with a golden glow over their natural viridian hues. The sky had a faint cobalt shade mixed in with the newer colors of dawn, seemingly decorated with wisps of clouds. Naminé looked downward and focused on the pool; the water wasn't calm as the waterfall was turned on. Naminé wondered if it was always on or if it turned on at a certain time, but regardless, the water was looking very inviting. She longed to dive into the cool waters and swim around for hours, but she knew she couldn't.

There were many things Naminé couldn't do anymore. Many things that had been a part of her everyday living were now forbidden for her. She would have loved to put on a summer dress and gone exploring around the town, taking in the sights of Radiant Garden.

_What's the point in hoping for that opportunity? I can't walk around with my facial injuries, let alone dressed as a girl. _

She backed away from the window and closed the curtains. She looked over at her bed and saw a tuft of raven hair poking out from under her blankets. Naminé was rather tempted to jump on top of her friend but she knew not to disrupt anyone while they slept. Naminé looked at her the digital clock on her bedside table and saw that it was 9am. Even though she had gotten her eight hours of sleep, Naminé still felt exhausted.

She walked over to her bed and sat down at the edge, making sure not to awaken Xion. Naminé looked down at her pajamas; an oversized t-shirt and checkered boxers with knee-high socks. She brought her knees to her chest and looked over at her desk. The clothes from the previous night were hanging from the edge of her desk. Her star necklace was the only thing that was neatly placed on her desk. And it was next to her sketch book and pencil case that Roxas had given her.

"Naminé?" croaked Xion.

Naminé turned around to look at her companion; Xion's azure orbs were still unfocused, her hair raven hair was a complete mess, and she looked as drained as Naminé felt. "Good morning, Xion."

"Morning…" the brunette mumbled. She sat up in the bed and she yawned loudly, stretching her arms out. With a smile, Naminé remembered that she had let Xion borrow an oversized t-shirt and boxer for her to wear instead of her party dress. The violet dress itself was hanging inside Naminé's closet next to the blonde's own dresses. "What time is it?"

"A bit past nine." Naminé replied. She turned around completely and sat down Indian style and faced Xion.

Xion removed Naminé's covers off her body and brought her knees to her chest, resting her head on her knees. "I feel like I slept for twenty minutes at most."

Naminé chuckled. "I know the feeling, I feel like I need more sleep."

"Oh, thanks for letting me borrow your clothes, Nami." Xion smiled.

"You're welcome." Naminé smiled back. "I feel bad for Kairi, though."

Xion snorted with laughter. "Poor Kairi, she's gonna wake up with various layers of chiffon and rhinestones imprinted on her skin."

"We should have taken some clothes to her before she fell asleep." Naminé murmured.

"Maybe Sora lent her something." Xion mused. "Although he probably wouldn't have the nerve to wake her just for that…hey, do you think maybe Sora decided to stay and keep Kairi some company?"

Naminé pursed her lips thoughtfully. "Even though he jokes around a lot, I seriously doubt he would have slept with her. And I mean that in the most innocent way."

"Yeah, you're right." Xion giggled. "And Sora did say that he was going to camp over at Roxas's room anyway. Hey, can I use your bathroom?"

"Sure." Naminé smiled and Xion got out of bed and made her way to the bathroom. While Xion was using the loo, Naminé got out of bed and decided to fix the mess of blankets. Xion walked out as Naminé was fixing the sheets and together the two girls made Naminé's bed.

A few minutes passed and the two girls laid down in Naminé's freshly made bed, looking up at the stippled ceiling.

_Roxas obviously saw Riku and me in the dining room last night. Is he mad at me? Something is wrong, I can tell. Chances are that Roxas assumes that I might be interested in Riku or something but I'm not. I mean, I think I'm pretty obvious, how does he not see it? Admittedly, I don't know how he feels about me, but last night in the bathroom…a kiss is usually a sure fire sign of affection, right?_

Xion looked at Naminé and tilted her head to the side. "What's wrong, Nami?"

"When a guy kisses you…" Naminé whispered. "What does that mean?"

"It depends on the type of relationship you have with said guy." Xion answered thoughtfully. "Is this guy a relative, a friend, or is he a crush?"

Naminé sighed and rolled on her right side to face Xion. "I…I'm in love with him, but I don't know how he feels."

"Ooh tricky." Xion said as she turned to her left side to face the blonde. "Well, he kissed you, so I'm pretty sure that's a good sign."

"But he didn't kiss my lips." Naminé said. "He kissed my forehead and cheeks."

"Oh." Xion scratched the back of her head. "He may still like you, maybe he's just shy."

"You really think so?" Naminé asked hopefully.

Xion sighed. "I'm just shifting through possibilities here, although it might help more if I met the guy."

Naminé felt her cheeks burning and began playing around with a strand of her closest to the base of her neck. "You've already met him."

There was a moment of silence before Xion whispered, "Is it Riku?"

Naminé gave Xion a bewildered look. "What? Why would you think of Riku?"

Xion looked down at Naminé's tangerine colored bed spread. "You spend a lot of time with him."

"But that doesn't mean that I was talking about Riku." Naminé's brows furrowed.

"Good point." Xion said embarrassedly. "So by process of elimination: it's not Riku, certainly not Sora, so that leaves Roxas!"

Naminé's cheeks heated up even more and all she did was merely nod in reply.

"Wait, when did he kiss you?" Xion asked with a sly smile on her doll-like face.

Naminé explained to Xion about the promise that Roxas had made to her in the VIP bathroom last night; Naminé spoke of her growing feelings for Roxas, the way she felt when he touched her, how his words held meaning to her and how her heart nearly exploded out of her chest when he began kissing her. By the time Naminé was done was done talking, Xion's smile had widened.

"Okay, I am definitely gonna talk to Roxas now." Xion said brightly. "I am gonna get to the bottom of this and get you two together!"

"You're gonna be my matchmaker?" Naminé giggled. She then looked downward and sighed. "But…I think he's mad at me."

"Why on earth would he be mad at you?" Xion asked incredulously. "You just told me that he was kissing you last night!"

"You remember last night when Roxas said that he looked for me and Riku in the dining room?" Naminé said helplessly.

"Yeah, and he said that he didn't see you guys." Xion replied.

"He lied; Riku and I _were_ in the dining room." Naminé said quietly. "I'm sure Roxas saw us and got the wrong idea."

"So you and Riku were together…" Xion said slowly, a slight look of fear in her oceanic eyes.

"We were just talking, nothing else." Naminé said firmly. "But I feel like Roxas might think that I'm interested in Riku and I'm not."

Xion reached out and held Naminé's right hand. "Don't worry, I'll have a talk with Roxas."

Naminé squeezed Xion's hand. "Thank you Xion."

"It's no problem." Xion smiled.

The two let go of each other's hands and returned their gaze to the stippled-pattern ceiling. A few minutes of silence passed before Naminé spoke up. "Can I ask you something Xion?"

"Sure." Replied the raven haired doll.

"Why did you look so troubled at the possibility of me kissing Riku?"

Xion's cheeks turned a scarlet shade and she turned to her right side, giving Naminé her back. "…I don't know."

Naminé's brows creased in confusion. "Do you like Riku?"

"I barely know him." Xion mumbled. "All that we have in common is that we love playing video games."

"Well, why don't you get to know him?" Naminé said warmly. Xion propped herself up on her elbow and sighed. "It's no big deal, and besides, I don't think that what I feel is anything deep."

"You'll know if you get to know him better." Naminé said encouragingly.

"Yeah, then what will happen if I do fall for him?" Xion muttered.

"By getting to know each other there's a big chance that he could fall for you!" Naminé smiled.

At this point Xion turned around and faced Naminé; her oceanic orbs had a woeful look to them. "A guy like him with a girl like me? Not a chance."

"Don't think like that Xion!" Naminé scowled.

"Naminé, have looked at him?" Xion's voice was strained. "I mean really looked at him? When the band's popularity really picks, Riku's own popularity will skyrocket. He'll have girls and even guys throwing themselves at him. How am I gonna compete with that?"

_Xion…_

"Squall Leonhart, a former member of the band Final Fantasy went through a similar problem. He met a girl at a dance, specifically their debut's after party. I don't know if you've met all of the receptionists, but this girl, Rinoa, works at the company. Anyway, the two began to date about eight months after they met. They kept their romance a secret from the public eye, but with all of the fangirls that he had due to his popularity, the stress on her became too much for Rinoa to bear." Xion said sadly.

"What happened to them?" Naminé sat up, tightly gripping the bottom of her oversized t-shirt.

"They broke up after dating for two years." Xion sighed. "Rinoa couldn't handle keeping their love a secret. Squall was also constantly being associated with other female celebrities. If she was in the same breathing space as he was, they were dating. If the girl randomly stood next to him at some public event, they were secret lovers. And it wasn't just females; if Squall was seen jogging with a male friend, Squall was secretly gay. Squall was paired up with his band mates, and even when that's not out of the norm, it still affected his relationship with Rinoa."

"And they never spoke to each other again?" Naminé anxiously asked. "What happened to Squall and Rinoa after their break up?"

"Well, you'll be happy to know that they had quite a happy ending." Xion smiled. "Squall and Rinoa got back after the band disbanded. And even though Rinoa's identity has always remained a secret, he did publically announce that he wasn't single…they got married and they now have a one-year old son."

"That's wonderful!" Naminé beamed. "I'm so happy for them! …even though I've never met either of them."

Xion giggled. "Don't worry about it, I only know Rinoa, I've never personally met Squall." Xion's expression changed and she looked crestfallen. "But do you see all the trouble they went through?"

"And yet they still ended up together!" Naminé reached and grabbed Xion's hands. "Who's to say that you and Riku won't end up the same way?"

"Naminé…no." Xion pulled her hands away from the blonde's grasp. "I'm just drawn to his mysterious allure, that's all."

"You're just saying that to convince yourself." Naminé accused. "You should give yourself that chance to get to know Riku better. Talk with him, get to know him better."

Xion gave a shaky sigh. "I seriously doubt I'm his type to begin with."

"I'll ask him for you." Naminé said bracingly.

"Now look at who is playing matchmaker!" Xion laughed. She reached over and grabbed one of Naminé's pillows and swatted the petite blonde with it. Naminé tired to shield herself but failed miserably as Xion continued her playful antics. Naminé ended up rolling off her own bed and with a loud thud; with her round derriere met the carpeted floor. The two girls roared in laughter at this and Naminé slowly got up while Xion had kneeled on Naminé's bed, completely unable to control her own merriment.

That is until someone knocked on Naminé's door and the two promptly ceased their jubilance.

"Uh oh." Xion whispered as she sat down on Naminé's bed.

"Maybe it's Roxas." Naminé said hopefully.

Naminé straightened up and marched over to her door. She had barely even opened when a perfectly manicured hand grabbed the door and pushed it open. Kairi sluggishly walked in; her crimson hair looked like a rat's nest, her makeup was so smeared, it looked like a five-year old had tried to do a clown's makeup and failed epically at it, and her arms were completely stamped with chiffon and rhinestone marks.

"Holy smokes." Xion snorted. "You look like shit."

"Gee, thanks." Kairi snapped. She walked up to Naminé's bed as the room's owner closed the door and walked up to the redhead. Kairi glared heatedly at her sister and Naminé. "Are you two trying to get found out?"

"No, why?" Naminé asked.

Kairi looked down at Naminé's tangerine bed spread and she let herself fall on it ungracefully, this naturally made Xion crack up.

"Are you that tired?" Naminé giggled as she sat down next to Kairi.

"My head hurts like hell…" Kairi replied. Her voice was muffled by the bead spread beneath her.

"Do you want to put ice on it?" Naminé asked tenderly.

Kairi shook her head. "I feel like that would make it worse. Your loud laughter didn't help me one bit."

"Sorry, sis." Xion said sheepishly and began stroking Kairi's carmine colored tresses. "If you heard us all the way to Sora's room, then I'm shocked that the guys haven't heard anything."

"They're pretty heavy sleepers." Naminé said in a matter-of-factly voice.

Kairi's head jerked upward. "Wait, I slept where?"

"In Sora's room." Xion chortled. "How did you not notice?"

"Because it was dark!" Kairi said as if it were obvious. "I woke up, threw the covers off me, got out of bed, left the room, and followed the sound of your laughter!"

"Well that explains it." Xion quipped.

"Oh shush!" Kairi hissed playfully. Kairi grabbed the pillow that Xion had left on the bed and smack her sister on the head.

Roxas couldn't take it anymore. He was sick and tired of the constant thrashing, mumbling and especially the lack of bed space. Sora was snoring loudly, blissfully unaware that his loud honk-like noise was directly by Roxas's left ear. Not to mention that he was almost straddling his cousin.

Roxas had tried his hardest to gently push Sora away, but the more he insisted the more Sora would move closer to him. Roxas began to push Sora to the empty space he was supposed to be occupying, but to no avail. The brunet kept on moving in Roxas's direction to the point that Roxas was literally centimeters away from hitting the floor.

Roxas looked at his cousin and his eyes widened; Sora had his mouth open wide, his saliva pooling at the corner, threatening to spill.

And it did, right on Roxas's neck.

_Oh gross! That's it, no more nice Roxas!_

Roxas placed his hands on his cousin's chest and pushed him away as much as he could, given his own limited space. Unfortunately, Roxas didn't measure his own strength and ended up knocking Sora out of his bed, blankets and all. Sora landed on the floor with a resounding thud.

_Oh shit…_

Sora snapped upward, his bloodshot blue eyes glaring at the blond. "What. Was. That. For."

"You almost threw me off the bed!" Roxas said defensively.

"So you threw _me_ instead?" Sora hissed. He jumped on the bed and then threw himself on top of his cousin and tried to push him off the bed.

The two cousins struggled around, completely putting the sheets and blankets in absolute disarray. It got even worse as the two did manage to fall on the floor, and getting their feet tangled up in the sheets. The two youths ceased their horsing around and lost themselves in laughter.

"Sora, you can get off me now." Roxas said amidst his laughs. "You're pretty heavy for a guy with no fat…or muscles."

"Shut up!" Sora tried to look pissed, but didn't manage it and ended up roaring with laughter. Sora slowly stood up but because his feet were tangled up in the sheets, his face met with the polished ivory tiles.

"Are you okay?" Roxas managed to say as his laughter was consuming his vocal chords.

"I just ate it! What do you think?" Sora leaned to his side, his jaw wide open as his laughter continued.

Roxas untangled himself from the navy colored sheets and ran to his bathroom as fast as he could. After he had finished his business, Roxas walked over to his sink. It just dawned on him how his sink was small waterfall faucet that spilled water onto a bowl sink. Roxas dried his hands with the charcoal colored towel on the vanity and then looked at his reflection. He still had that large bruise on his forehead and while the gash on his lip wasn't as pronounced as it had looked the previous night, it was still very noticeable. His hair was messier than normal, if that was somehow even possible.

Roxas puffed his cheeks and blew out the air upwards, so that his bangs moved away from the center of his face. His mind was reeling with images of what he had lived through last night.

Inside Oblivion's VIP room

Roxas had taken the last gulp of his Sea Salt Night and placed the glass on the high rise table.

"So what were you gonna ask me, Roxas?" Sora muttered, his eyes narrowing at Roxas.

Roxas grinned deviously. "Have you asked Kairi out yet?"

Sora's eyes widened. "N-no."

"Why not?" Riku smiled slyly. "You like her, don't you?"

The brunet's cheeks turned a faint pink and his eyes darted around the room nervously. "I...don't know how to ask her out."

"Here's a thought," Roxas snickered. "Why don't you walk up to her and ask her if she'd like to go out on a date with you."

"It's not that simple!" Sora sputtered.

"It's only as complicated as you make it." Riku said wisely.

"So you would just march up to the girl you like and bluntly as her out?" Sora said in a skeptic voice.

"If I was absolutely sure she liked me, then yes." Riku deadpanned.

Roxas narrowed his eyes at the silveret. _Oh really?_

"Well I don't know how Kairi feels about me!" Sora retorted.

"But it's so obvious that she likes you!" Roxas laughed. "How on earth do you not see that?"

"Because it's not obvious to me!" Sora snapped. "I see her acting no differently towards me than how she acts with you guys!"

"Oh wow." Riku laughed. "I really didn't think you'd be that dense!"

"Oh yeah?" Sora hissed. "Let's test that theory of yours. When Kairi gets back we'll see how obvious she is about me."

Roxas and Riku glanced at each other and they both smirked knowingly.

"Speaking of which," Sora said as he pulled out his dark jeans. "It's been almost twenty minutes. Why are they taking so long?"

"They should have been back by now." Roxas said as he looked over at the VIP's door. "I mean, how long could it take to put on a Band-Aid?"

"Let's go look for them." Riku said as he stood up from his seat. The two cousins and the silveret walked across the room heading towards the door.

"Oh yeah, Axel told me to tell you to text him." Sora told Roxas as he opened the door.

Roxas stepped out into the main hallway and looked around, noticing that the VIP bathroom at the far left end of the hallway. "I'll text Axel later. Hey, do you think they might be in the bathroom?"

"Probably." Riku replied. "It wouldn't hurt to check."

Sora frowned. "Why would Snow be inside the girl's room?"

"This whole floor was reserved just for us, so I don't think it matters what restroom Snow uses." Roxas answered dryly.

"Which means that not just anyone can enter here." Riku added as they neared the women's room.

"Oh…so if someone wants to join our party, they would need an invitation." Sora said thoughtfully. "Well that's good, that way some psycho can't enter easily and-"

There was a sudden loud, blood-curling scream coming from the first floor below.

_What the fuck?_

"I LOVE IT WHEN GIRLS SCREAM FOR ME!"

"Vanitas…?" Sora gasped. "Why would he be here…?"

The words died on his lips as Riku ran over to the railing and his eyes widened. "Guys!"

Sora and Roxas looked over the railing; saw the events taking place on the first floor and Roxas's heart stopped.

Vanitas had grabbed Xion by her injured arm and she punched his face, causing him to throw her onto the floor. He then grabbed Naminé and threw her against Kairi, and the two girls collapsed on the floor next to Xion. Roxas's eyes zoomed in on Naminé's heart-shaped face; her lips were bleeding and she had a nasty bruise on her forehead.

Vanitas had hurt her; he had dared to lay his hands on _his _Naminé. Roxas also recalled that Vanitas had correctly figured out Naminé's gender, just by looking at her from a distance.

_He's had her in sights since then and he wants her…over my dead body!_

"VANITAS!" Sora roared.

The three of them ran down the stairs; Sora jumped off the last six steps as Vanitas stood up, a devilish smile on his pale face.

Roxas nostrils flared up as he tried to push away the memory, but sadly that led to his mind playing another memory. The memory of what he saw in the dining room after they arrived home from Oblivion.

After the sextuplets entered the lavish house, Roxas had walked to the living room at a snail-like pace. He let himself drop on the leather couch and rested his head against the seat, letting his eyes close. He exhaled outwardly, he felt as if he had been holding his breath for the entire evening and just now, he was able to truly breathe comfortably. He heard footsteps enter the living room and he only opened his eyes when he felt someone taking a seat next to him.

He was rather bummed out when he saw that it was Xion who had taken the seat to his left, as he had been expecting it to be a darling blonde. Sora began talking about watching a movie or playing a game, when Kairi asked if they should wait for Snow and Riku. It was at that very moment that Roxas realized that not only was Naminé not within sight, but neither was the silveret. Xion added that it was only fair to wait for the other two, but with Sora itching to start playing, the brunet suggested that they look for the missing pair.

Xion decided to head upstairs and knock on their respective room's doors, but no answer was given. Kairi had entered the kitchen but found no one there, despite the light being on before she entered. Roxas checked the parlor as Sora made his way outside to the pool area. Roxas looked over at the dining room and raised an eyebrow. The kitchen's light was strong enough to illuminate the dining room to a certain degree. Roxas walked across the parlor into a short hallway, up three steps and was about to round the corner when he saw Riku putting down some piece of cloth that looked like a cleaning rag on the table and reached out and grabbed Naminé's hand.

Roxas's inner fire immediately burst into a raging firestorm, his blood boiling and his fists clenching. His mind yelled at Naminé to pull away; he had, after all, constantly warned her about Riku and if he knew Naminé the way he did, then she would jerk her hand way from Riku's grasp and slap him.

But she didn't. Much to Roxas's shock, Naminé didn't pull way. In fact, her fingers intertwined with Riku's. If Roxas didn't know any better, he could have sworn he had just walked into a very private and very _romantic_ conversation. They looked like a real couple, like they were genuinely in love. Riku certainly looked the part of doting boyfriend, and while Naminé didn't have a lovey-dovey expression, she did have a soft, warm look in her face.

To see those cerulean orbs that he loved look at Riku in that manner was agonizing. Roxas felt a hot, raging urge to tear Riku's arm off and pull Naminé away from him. And to top it off, kiss Naminé right in front of the silveret. The other two continued to chat and then Riku reached out to ruffle Naminé's hair with his free hand.

Roxas looked away from the two, no matter how much his heart was yelling to take Naminé away from Riku. If Roxas were to march up to them and yank Naminé away, what explanation would he give? He couldn't give away Naminé's true identity, even if he was suspicious of Riku's possible knowledge over the secret. He walked away as quietly as he could, his heart felt like lead with every step he took.

Roxas scowled at his reflection and decided to walk away. He opened the bathroom door and raised an eyebrow when he found Sora wrapped up in the blankets.

"Geez, Sora." Roxas snickered. "It's not like we live in the mountains of Land of Dragons."

Sora rolled his eyes. "You know I get cold easily. We grew up in a tropical island, for Pete's sake!"

"Then why don't you go and warm up with Kairi?" Roxas grinned.

Sora's cheeks turned a lava color. "Because I'm not a pervert!"

Roxas rolled his eyes. "It's only perverted if you do something inappropriate while she sleeps, dummy."

The blush on Sora's cheeks intensified. "Either way, I am a true gentleman."

"I bet Kairi will be pleased to know that you're so chivalrous." Roxas chuckled.

"Girls like that kind of thing, right?" Sora sat up on the bed pushing some of the blankets aside.

"You really don't hang around girls that much do you?" Roxas scoffed. "They're always complaining about how chivalry is dead and that real gentlemen no longer exist anywhere but in fairy tales."

Sora raised his eyebrows. "Holy crap, seriously?"

Roxas rolled his eyes. "You have no idea…not that it matters much anyway."

"What do you mean?" Sora's brows furrowed.

"Nothing." Roxas sighed tiredly. "I'm just tired out, I feel like I need more sleep."

Sora looked at Roxas with an unsettled expression. The blond sat down at the edge of his bed and buried his head in his hands.

His mind swirled with images of Riku holding Naminé's hand, with her smiling sweetly at him. Hadn't Roxas said that Riku couldn't be trusted? Didn't he continuously say to her that she needed to keep a safe distance from Riku?

_**Calm down, they could have just been having a perfectly normal conversation. **_

_Who has a conversation with someone while holding hands? What if…she…has fallen in love with him?_

_**Don't be so hasty, jumping to conclusions won't do you any good.**_

_How can I not jump to conclusions when I see her talking so happily with Riku like that? I…was so sure that maybe…Naminé felt something for me. When I kissed her last night…she accepted my kisses, she didn't pull away, she didn't shy away, nor did she slap me for it._

_**Who's to say that she doesn't reciprocate your affection? You don't go ape shit when you see her talking with Sora. She probably sees Riku in the same light she sees Sora. **_

_I hope so. _

_**Why don't you go see Naminé and have a talk with her? Just clear everything up. It won't make you less manly if you go and talk to her.**_

Roxas was so absorbed in his thoughts that he was completely thrown by surprise when he heard his door opening. Roxas looked up and saw that Sora began to walk out of his room.

_I wish I had met Naminé under different circumstances…that way I could freely be able to show her my affection._

Roxas fell against his bed, exhaling loudly and covering his eyes with his arm.

_The door was in his way. He wanted to get inside the room on the other side, but the large blue door before him made it impossible. The little boy huffed and ran down the hallway looking for his mother. He finally found her sitting in the living room with a book in her hands, her honey-colored eyes glued to its pages. She had long, wavy sun-colored hair that fell to her shoulders, and her soft coral hue lips curled up into a smile as her eyes fell on him. _

"_What's the matter, sweetie?" she cooed._

"_My door." The boy replied._

"_What's wrong with your door?" his mother asked sweetly, setting her book down on the coffee table next to her seat. _

"_Is close." He murmured._

"_It's closed?" she clarified. "Do you want me to open it?"_

"_Yeah!" he beamed._

_She got up and walked back to the hallway he had come from. She turned the knob and opened his door. The little boy gleefully ran inside his room and laughed in delight upon seeing his toys. He ran over to a big wooden toy chest that was next to his bed and pulled out a small wooden sword. He jumped around the room merrily swinging his sword at imaginary enemies. _

_His mother giggled behind her hand. "Be careful Roxas. Don't hurt yourself."_

"_Okay Mama!" Roxas laughed. _

_His mother left the room, closing the door behind her and Roxas looked over at the other end of his room. There was another bed there, other toys that weren't his. Roxas walked over to the other side and marveled at the toys; there were figures of cartoon characters, cars, race tracks, and the entire wall was covered with stars. These stars were magical for Roxas, for at night, when the lights were out, these stars would glow. _

_Roxas wanted to play with these other toys, but he knew that he wasn't supposed to, unless he asked. He heard his door creaking open and he turned around to see another boy walking in. Roxas beamed and ran over to the other boy._

"_Ven!" Roxas hugged the older boy. "Ven play!"_

_Ven smiled. "Okay, okay. What do you want to play, Roxas?"_

_Roxas swung his wooden sword and pointed it towards the ceiling. "War!"_

"_Let me get mine!" Ven ran over to his bed and pulled out a wooden sword identical to Roxas's from under his bed. "Let's be keyblade wielders like in the stories!" _

_Roxas beamed ecstatically and the two boys swung their swords at each other, laughing joyously. Ven grabbed onto Roxas's hand and they both climbed on top of Ven's bed and together they jumped, swinging their wooden blades at imaginary foes. _

"_Wait Roxas!" Ven said suddenly. He stopped jumping and stood very still, his blue eyes focused on their bedroom door. _

"_Why?" Roxas frowned as he slowly came to a stop. _

"_Listen." Ven whispered. _

_Roxas blinked in confusion but then he heard loud voices coming from outside the room. "Mama? Papa?"_

"_There's someone else with them." Ven put down his wooden sword on his bed and then jumped off. He slowly walked over to the door and looked out into the hallway. _

_The voices grew louder in volume, and it scared little Roxas. With his wooden sword in hand, he got off Ven's bed and walked up to the older boy. "Ven…"_

_Ven looked over his shoulder and then turned to hug Roxas. "Shh…"_

"_You either give me all of your munny, or I'll blow your fucking heads off right now!" yelled a man with a deep voice. _

"_You have all of it, I swear!" that panicked voice belonged to their father. _

"_Please take anything else, but don't kill us!" cried their mother. _

"_Y'know, I'm getting tired of you shit." The stranger hissed. "You two must not really value your lives, from the looks of it."_

"_Take my jewels!" their mother sobbed, and Roxas could hear shuffling noises coming from the living room. "Take them please!"_

"_You know what lady?" the stranger's voice sneered. "You have the right idea going and for that, I might spare you."_

_There was a loud gunshot blast that echoed throughout the entire house and the two boys jumped; Roxas dropped his sword and grabbed onto Ven's gray shirt. _

"_NO!" their mother cried hysterically. "KAZE!" _

"_Papa?" Roxas whimpered as he looked up at the older blond. "Ven…Papa?"_

_Ven's lip trembled and tears cascaded down his cheeks. "D-Dad…"_

"_Ven…" Roxas sniffled. "Where Papa? Where Papa?"_

_Ven wiped away his tears with his free arm. "We have to go, Roxas."_

"_No!" Roxas cried. "Papa!"_

"_Shh!" Ven covered Roxas's mouth. "He'll hear us!"_

"_Who's over there?" the man roared. _

_Ven gasped as Roxas struggled to pull away from Ven's grip. _

"_No one!" their mother sobbed. "There's nobody else here!"_

"_You better not be fucking lying to me." The man growled. _

"_Come on!" Ven whispered as he pulled Roxas and ran down the left side of the hallway, away from the source of the man's voice. They entered the kitchen and both went over to the table and hid under it, trying to remain hidden by the cloth while trying to catch their breaths. After a few moments, Ven crawled out from under the table, leaving Roxas behind. Roxas panicked, his tears splashing on the hardwood floor beneath him. He curled up and laid down on his right side, hoping that Ven would come back for him. _

_From his angle, Roxas could see his father lying on the floor in a growing pool of his own blood. _

"_Papa…" Roxas sobbed. He wanted to run from underneath the table and straight into his mother's arms. He wanted his father to get up and make the mean, scary man go away. Roxas almost jumped when a pair of muddy, black leather boots enter his line of sight beneath the table cloth. Roxas backed away slightly; his breathing became shaky and his tears began to blur his vision. _

_The loud footsteps echoed as the shoes got closer and Roxas covered his mouth, trying to control his breathing. _

"_I thought I heard a little mouse scurrying around." The man grumbled. He stopped walking in front of the kitchen doorway._

"_There's no one else inside the house, I swear!" his mother said solemnly in a strangled voice._

"_Then you wouldn't mind showing me around the house." The man hissed. _

"_What?" his mother grasped. _

"_Get up!" the man barked. "Get up! Take me to the bedrooms! Now!" _

_The man's shoes disappeared from Roxas's view. He heard his mother struggling against the man's hold as their footsteps faded into the house. Roxas gulped and he crawled from under the table; he slowly made his way over to the kitchen doorway that led to the living room. Roxas crawled up to his father; he let out a soft to wail when he saw that his father had a hole on his forehead. "Papa…"_

_He rubbed his eyes as his tears blended with his father's blood when hand clamped over his mouth suddenly. "Shh! Don't make a noise!"_

_Little Roxas spilled tears of joy as Ven removed his hand from Roxas's mouth and the little blond hugged the older blond. Roxas held onto Ven as he dragged Roxas away from their father's body. _

"_You need to promise…"_

_Roxas gripped Ven's shirt tightly. "Ven?"_

"_You have to promise me that you won't make a sound." Ven said quietly. "Okay Roxas? No noise."_

"_No noise?" Roxas echoed. _

_Ven nodded. "No noise, at all. Okay Roxas?"_

"_Okay Ven." Roxas whimpered. _

_Ven grabbed Roxas's hand and they sprinted across the kitchen until they reached a door in that was a few steps away from their garage. Ven opened the door and the two boys walked inside a small room; it was a bit dark and decorated with cobwebs. Roxas watched as Ven opened a door that was on the floor, close to the back wall. Unfortunately, the door creaked loudly; they heard another gunshot and their mother yelled, causing Ven to drop the cellar door. It slammed loudly as it closed. _

"_Come out, come out, wherever you are!" the man yelled. _

"_Ven, Roxas run!" their mother bellowed. "Get out of the house!"_

_Ven opened the cellar door again and looked over at Roxas. "Hurry up and get in!"_

_Roxas looked at the dark pit that awaited him and shook his head frantically. "No! It scawy Ven!"_

"_Just get in!" Ven yelled desperately. When Roxas still refused, Ven grabbed Roxas's left arm and shoved the frightened boy inside the cellar. _

"_Ven!" Roxas cried hysterically. "No Ven!" _

"_No noise Roxas!" Ven hissed, his tears cascading down his cheeks. "Remember you promised!"_

_Roxas tried to climb up the cellar stairs to get out from the black hole he was in when Ven began to close the door above him. _

"_No Ven!" Roxas yelled. "VEN!"_

"Roxas!"

His eyes snapped open; his breathing was labored and his entire body was shaking uncontrollably. He looked to his right side to find Naminé looking down at him; her cerulean eyes were wide with a mixture of fear and anxiety. She was tightly grabbing his right hand and her carmine lips were trembling.

"Naminé?" he rasped. "Wh-what happened?"

"I came to see if you were awake, I had bumped into Sora out on the hallway and he said you should be awake." She replied weakly. "I knocked several times on your door but you didn't answer. I was about to leave when I heard you screaming."

Roxas exhaled and sat up in his bed. "I was yelling?"

"Yes." Naminé hiccupped.

Roxas was shocked to see tears gathering in her eyes. "Don't cry…"

"I was so worried!" she sniffled. "I wa-was afraid th-that someone was hurt-hurting you…!"

"Naminé…" Roxas pulled her close to him and locked eyes with her. "I'm okay; I just had a nightmare, that's all."

Naminé buried her face in his chest and wept silently. Roxas ran his fingers through her short, soft hair in a soothing manner. His heart was still racing, but it was no longer due to negative reasons, it was for a much better reason now.

Roxas wrapped his arms around the beautiful girl he had helplessly fallen in love with and rested his head against hers. His eyes closed as a warm smile graced his lips.

_I can definitely get used to this. Just me and her, it's all I need._

He felt himself relax when she returned his embrace, his nightmare slowly becoming more faint with each second.

"A-are you mad at me?" Naminé sniffled.

"Huh?" Roxas blinked in absolute confusion as he looked down at her. "What?"

Naminé gulped. "Are you mad at me?"

"Wha…" Roxas chuckled. "Why would I be mad at you?"

"For last night." Naminé hiccupped. "When you saw Riku and I in the dining room together."

_Oh that…_

"I'm not mad at you." Roxas said firmly. "I was just tired."

Naminé didn't look entirely convinced.

Roxas poked her cheek. "Hey don't give me that look missy!"

Naminé let out a sweet sounding giggle as he brought their foreheads together, looking deeply into each other's eyes.

"For the record," Roxas said softly. "I can never be mad at your cute face."

Despite the spreading blush on Naminé's cheeks, there was a fiery determination in her eyes. "Roxas, Riku and I were just talking, nothing else."

"About what?" Roxas whispered.

"Mostly his past." She replied. "About the day he met you and Sora and how the band got started."

"Did he specifically say anything about me?" he muttered.

"No." Naminé answered. "Just that the three of you could get really competitive."

_Competitive, huh? That's about to reach a new level between Riku and I. _

"I don't he needed to mention that as I've seen it with my own eyes." Naminé giggled. "Especially if video games are involved."

Roxas laughed as he held her tighter, his eyes roamed over to the digital clock on his nightstand. It was 9:54am.

_Holy crap, I've only had five hours of sleep. No wonder I'm so damn tired…and that dream didn't help. _

_**But it wasn't a dream, and you know it. **_

_The weird thing is that this is the first time I've seen things a bit more clearly…but I still don't know who that other kid was…I always thought it was some random kid, but he lived with us._

_**Perhaps he was a relative on mom's side of the family. Oh wait, she was an only child. **_

…_am I an only child? Or maybe I'm overreacting to this…but who was that kid and why did he live with us?_

"Something wrong Roxas?" Naminé asked softly.

"I was just wondering where Sora went." Roxas said distractedly.

"Oh, I think he was heading for his room." She smiled.

Roxas grinned. "Oh ho ho, so he ended up going to give Kairi some company after all!"

"Kairi is in my room." Naminé said.

Roxas chuckled. "Ouch, that's gonna hurt him."

"Why?" Naminé frowned. "It's not like we got freaky or anything."

"First of all, I can't believe you just said that!" Roxas laughed. "And second, he doesn't know that you're a girl, so Kairi being in your room will make Sora think that she's interested in you and not him."

Naminé giggled. "But Kairi barely entered my room this morning."

"Ah, you should have made that clear." Roxas chuckled. "I was under the impression that Kairi had spent the night in your room."

"Oh no, she definitely slept in Sora's room." Naminé clarified. "Besides, it so obvious that she likes him!"

Roxas snorted. "Yeah, you try telling him that and then get back to me."

Naminé gave a sweet sounding laugh and rested her head against his chest, sighing happily. He closed his eyes, as a feeling over overwhelming serenity enveloped him. He was about to lie down on his mattress when he heard a faint vibration coming from somewhere in his room. Naminé pulled away from him, much to his chagrin.

"Where did you leave your phone?" she asked as she stood up and her eyes began to look all around his room.

"It's probably still inside my pants." Roxas muttered as he got to his feet. He walked over to his dresser where he had haphazardly left his clothes before going to sleep. His shirt and his jeans were all crumpled up, not that Roxas cared much for. He located his phone inside one of his jeans pocket and saw the cause of the constant vibration. Axel was calling.

"Hey Axel." Roxas said lazily.

"Don't 'hey Axel' me, Roxas." The redhead replied irritably. "Open the gate."

"What gate?" Roxas asked. He looked over at Naminé and she did the 'I-don't-know' gesture.

"What do you mean 'what gate'?" Axel hissed. "The gate in front of your house, smartass."

Roxas's eyes widened. "You here?"

Naminé got a panicked look and she bolted out of Roxas's room.

"I told you I would come and visit you, didn't I?" Axel said acidly. "Now hurry up and open the gate."

"Okay, I'll be right there." Roxas said hastily. Roxas hung up and put his phone on his dresser then put on his pants he had been wearing the previous night. He opened a drawer and pulled out a clean t-shirt at random and put it on. He looked under his bed and grabbed the first pair of shoes he could see and put them on before racing out of his room.

Out in the hallway was Naminé talking with Sora and Riku. When Roxas neared them, his cousin turned around with a stressed look on his jovial face.

"Snow says that Axel is waiting outside." Sora said worriedly. "Tell me he's joking."

"No joke here." Roxas muttered. "Have you guys told the girls?"

"I was about to." Naminé rasped. She ran back to her room and opened her door, leaving it semi open. The three guys could hear her telling the two sisters the news of Axel's arrival in her manly voice.

Roxas turned to Sora. "Where did you leave the keys last night?"

"They're in the bowl on the small table right before you enter the parlor." Sora replied.

Roxas nodded and made his way down the stairs. When he got to the living room he could hear footsteps behind him; Roxas didn't have to turn around to know that it was Riku.

"What are you gonna say to Axel?" Riku asked in a hollow voice.

"The truth." Roxas deadpanned. "We already told him that Vanitas is responsible for our injuries, anyway. What would be the point in lying to him?"

Roxas walked forward towards the front door when he saw the key bowl that Sora had mentioned. Roxas picked up the keys and then he opened the front door, leaving it open. Roxas raised his left hand upward to block the sun's bright rays as he walked down the stone path when he managed to spot a lanky redhead and another figure dressed in some kind of uniform.

The closer that Roxas got to the gate the easier it became to see that Axel was accompanied by Vayne. Behind the two redheads was none other than the shiny-midnight-black Cadillac Escalade, the Keyblade Wielders very own personal vehicle. Roxas felt more nervous than he had been as he hadn't expected Axel to bring Vayne along.

"Good morning, Roxas." Vayne said politely.

"Morning Vayne." Roxas smiled.

"Yeah, yeah, slip the pleasantries and open the gate already." Axel said curtly.

Vayne was dressed in his chauffer uniform and Axel was wearing a forest green t-shirt and black jeans. Roxas walked up to the gate, unlocked it, and pushed one side open. Axel walked inside the premises as Vayne walked back over to the Cadillac Escalade and then entered the vehicle. Roxas pushed the other gate open so that the grand automobile could have all the space it needed to freely make its way through the driveway. While Roxas closed one side of the gates, Axel pulled on the other side so that Roxas could lock the gate.

Vayne stepped out of the car and greeted Riku as Axel and Roxas joined them.

"Where are Xion and Kairi?" Axel impatiently asked.

"They're inside the house." Riku replied.

Axel raised an eyebrow and entered the house as if it were his own home. Roxas, Riku and Vayne entered the house after him, Vayne closed the door behind them as the blond and the silveret walked into the living room.

The two sisters had been sitting in the loveseat while Sora and Naminé sat in the leather couch. All four looked nervous and this only led to confusion when Vayne came into view. The smaller redheaded man looked horrified when he saw the injuries on their faces.

"What on earth happened?" Vayne asked breathlessly.

"We're about to find out." Axel hissed. His gaze turned over to the two sisters. "You're gonna be completely honest, no bullshit, and don't even think about telling me that I shouldn't go and incinerate Sora's older brother to a crisp."

Roxas and Riku walked past Axel and sat down on the beanbags. The three guys and the three girls all looked at one another, all at a clear loss of where to begin. After a few moments of painful silence, Axel exhaled.

"I expected more out of you guys." He said lowly. "Don't you know how stories go? There's a beginning, middle and an end. I suggest you start at the beginning."

Kairi looked up at Axel with a fierce look in her sapphire orbs. "Snow and I were talking in the lobby when Vanitas showed up."

"Good start." Axel said waspishly. "Now tell what you and Snow were doing in the lobby."

"I had a cut on my arm that I hot earlier when we were leaving Cornelia Castle." Xion said. "Kairi insisted on putting a band-aid on it, so we left the VIP room to go get the first aid-kit from the receptionist. After that, I ran ahead to give back the kit to the receptionist but I couldn't find her."

_That must have been when Vanitas got to Vanille. He had planed the whole thing from the start, that's why he attacked Vanille. He didn't want anyone to interrupt; she would have called security immediately. _

"Snow and I walked down to the lobby, waiting for Xion." Kairi's voice changed to a darker tone. "That's when he showed up."

"And because he had an invitation, he was able to get past security easily." Axel surmised. "I'm assuming that he's also responsible for Vanille's head injury."

"He probably had planned to do something from the get-go." Vayne said pensively. "Perhaps not what he ended up doing, but he definitely had some malicious intent in mind."

"He was fixed on me." Kairi hissed venomously. "Vanitas only attacked Snow because he tried to defend me."

Roxas looked over his shoulder at Naminé and felt an immense wave of pride. He had grown up with Vanitas, and he never defended himself while growing up until he was sixteen. And yet, Naminé had met Vanitas in that same moment and had not only stood up for herself, but Kairi and Xion. This petite, five feet and four inches tall girl had stood up to fucking Vanitas.

_It's like she's giving me more reasons to fall in love with her. _

_**Not that she'd need to, I'm already head-and-heels in love with her.**_

"Kairi and I struggled to get away from Vanitas." Naminé rasped in a solemn tone. "We almost got away when Xion came to help us…"

"But he just kept going and we couldn't escape from him." Xion muttered.

"But thankfully, these guys came to help us." Naminé rasped warmly. Her eyes seemed to sparkle with adoration as she looked at each of them.

"How did you three find them?" Axel asked in a considerably more amicable tone.

"Well, we walked out because they were taking too long to get back." Sora began.

"We heard Snow screaming and that's when we saw…what Vanitas was doing." Riku hissed.

"So he left when you all three kicked the shit out of him, right?" Axel smirked.

"I don't think that's it." Roxas grumbled. "I think he left because he was completely out numbered and we could have easily called security or the police."

"I don't want to make assumptions, but I can't believe someone as nice as Sora would have a complete monster for a brother." Vayne said thoughtfully.

"I can't believe we're related to him." Roxas said darkly.

Sora laughed bitterly. "I'm his brother. How do you think I feel knowing that the exact same DNA flows through my veins?"

Everyone's eyes fell on Sora.

"And it's not like I can deny that we're related." Sora hissed. "We look alike. Even Kairi thought he was me when she first saw him."

"I'm so sorry, Sora." Kairi whimpered.

"It's okay, you didn't know." Sora gave her a small smile. "Anyways, I can always pretend that he's some space oddity that's not related to me. I'd much rather believe that Roxas is my brother and not my cousin."

Roxas raised an eyebrow. "Sora, I feel somewhat offended that you're thinking of me as a brother _just _now, after all these years."

"You two are cousins?" Vayne had a look of child-like curiosity in his amber eyes.

"Can't you see the resemblance?" Sora laughed. To emphasize the point, Sora moved over to Roxas and pressed his face closer to his cousin, all while smiling like a goofball.

"I dunno about that, Sora." Axel grinned. "Maybe if you stopped smiling like an idiot, I might see _some_ resemblance."

"Hey!" Sora tried his hardest to look offended, but failed when he gave into laughter. The other occupants in the room joined in the merriment as the jovial brunet attempted to push the blond out of his seat.

"Okay, all jokes aside," Axel said in a steady voice. "Something has to be done about Vanitas."

"Maybe we can get some kind of restriction order on him." Xion suggested. "Not just for us, but also for when we film something on location."

Axel snapped his fingers and pointed at Xion. "That is a great idea. Now the only thing we have to do is run that by not just Terra, but Xemnas as well."

"And that would require explaining why." Riku said firmly. "But if that's what it takes to prevent Vanitas from harming anyone, then so be it."

"If we get a restriction order on Vanitas and he violates it, will he go to jail?" Naminé inquired.

"Pretty much." Axel said pointedly.

Naminé looked at Sora with a sad expression. "Are you okay with that, Sora? That your brother will go to jail?"

Sora looked downward, causing his longer mahogany spikes to cover his face. "He'd deserve it."

There was a rather uncomfortable silence while Sora sat down on the living room carpet Indian style. Roxas couldn't imagine how it would feel to have to place a restriction order on your own sibling, not to mention that it is likely that he would go to jail. Roxas felt terrible because Vanitas was his blood relative and he was also taking part in this.

After a few more moments of silence, Kairi cleared her throat and broke the uncomfortable wall that had been built around them.

"Another thing: what are we gonna do about our wounds?" Kairi asked.

"Can't you hide that with makeup?" Axel scratched the back of his head. "Just put on fifty pounds of it."

"Even if we put on fifty pounds of makeup on, the scars will be noticeable." Kairi retorted.

"Well, maybe we don't have to hide them." Sora said. "It's not like we're well known anyways."

"But there's already officially released images of you guys." Kairi told him. "People will notice any imperfections, trust me."

"We can always say that our scars were photoshopped or something." Sora said reasonably.

"It's not like other celebrities don't do it." Xion said agreeably, looking at Kairi. "And as far as you and I go, we don't have to worry about being public figures. All we have to worry about is explaining ourselves to grandma."

"That reminds me." Axel said as he walked over to the sisters and sat on the loveseat's armrest on Xion's side. "Aqua was asking about you guys last night."

The six youths stiffened at this.

"When you all decided to make your exit, Terra and Aqua came down to the lobby. They saw that I was helping that Vanille girl to sit up and asked what had happened. Vanille said that someone had come up from behind her and hit the back of her head." Axel said crossly. "I called up a medic unit, though Vanille insisted that she was fine. Terra asked me what had happened and I told him I didn't know, since I honestly didn't. But let's face it; Terra isn't a fool, and he quickly pieced together that your hasty exit had something to do with Vanille's attack."

"Wait, does Terra think we did it?" Roxas asked heatedly.

"No! I meant that he knows that somehow you're linked to it." Axel hissed. "Aqua then looked at me right in the eyes and asked me where you all went. I told her that you were heading home and that I was gonna come and question today. She and Terra said they would do the same."

"Oh no." Xion bowed her head and Kairi buried her face in her hands.

"Hasn't she called you yet?" Axel asked dubiously.

Kairi and Xion looked at each other.

"I haven't checked my phone…" the ebony haired sibling griped.

"Neither have I." whispered the ruby hared girl.

"Let's not worry about for now." Axel sighed. "Have you guys even eaten breakfast yet? It looks like you guys just woke up an hour ago."

"That's because we _did _wake up an hour ago." Riku smirked. "And no, we haven't had breakfast yet."

"Do we even have anything to eat besides cereal?" Naminé rasped.

"Um…eggs, milk, bacon, and pancake mix." Riku replied. "…I think."

Vayne snorted, Axel rolled his eyes, while Kairi and Xion laughed.

Roxas turned to look over at Sora. "Didn't you and Snow go grocery shopping last Monday?"

"Yeah…" Sora said dismissively. "But we mostly bought junk food."

"Awesome." Xion giggled. "I've always wanted to have Hot Cheetos for breakfast."

"You guys are hopeless." Axel murmured, and then he turned to look at Vayne. "Let's go to Jack in the Box and get some breakfast meals for these guys."

"But we can make pancakes!" Sora beamed. "We won't take too long, you'll see."

Sore jumped to his feet and tried to drag Roxas with him, but Roxas remained planted on his seat. Sora rolled his eyes and then turned to Kairi, which she immediately stood up and followed the brunet into the kitchen. Axel raised an eyebrow as the two walked past him and then turned to face the rest of the occupants in the living room.

"Something going on with those two?" Axel jerked his head towards the kitchen.

"Nothing official." Xion then smiled coyly. "_Yet._"

Axel gave her a questionable look. "I don't like the way you said that, Xion-kins. Do elaborate."

"Those two like each other and it's obvious." Xion giggled.

"It's obvious to everyone but them." Riku said in a dry tone.

"Love the sarcasm, Riku." Axel chuckled.

"I wasn't being sarcastic." Riku said honestly.

Axel rolled his jade eyes. "That is pathetic. I would have expected something like that from Sora, but Kairi?"

"I think she's just being coquettish about this whole thing." Xion admitted. "When Snow and I bring this to her attention, she blushes and says that she doesn't know what we're talking about."

"So…she's just playing hard to get?" Roxas raised an eyebrow.

"No, she's just trying to play it off." Xion replied. "She probably just wants to get him to say something first."

"Girls." Roxas shook his head. "Why can't they be straightforward like guys?"

He got up from his seat and made his way upstairs, his mind set on a much needed nap.

As he walked down the hallway, his mind flashed to what he had seen in his dream previously. In all of these years Roxas had never been able to clearly see the older boy's face. Roxas knew that his father had been shot in the forehead, and that his mother had been taken and raped before she had her throat slit.

_Mom and Dad told me the events of that night when I was sixteen…and I always accepted their version of the events. But I never did ask about that boy. _

He grabbed the doorknob and opened his door. He entered his room and looked over at his dresser, his eyes zooming in on his cell sitting atop of his dresser.

_Should I call them and ask them? Would they even know who that Ven kid is? _

He walked over to his dresser and picked up his black-and-white checkered pattern phone. He began dialing Destiny Islands' area code when there was a knock on his door. Roxas hit the cancel button and put his phone back on his dresser before he made his way to the door. He smiled warmly when he opened his door and found a certain blonde outside his room.

"Hey." Roxas said in a seductive tone and was quite pleased to see Naminé's cheeks turn a crimson shade.

"H-hi." She stuttered. "Um, how many pancakes would you like?"

Roxas chuckled. "Did you seriously come all the way up here just to ask me that?"

Naminé's cerulean orbs focused on the carpeted floor. "Yes?"

Roxas reached out and grabbed Naminé by her left arm, pulling her into his room and closing the door behind her. He then brought Naminé close to him so that they could embrace. He pressed his forehead against hers as his heart beat merrily inside his chest.

His hand reached up and combed her bangs out of her face, and then he kissed her forehead. His lips hovered over her skin as he moved towards her lips. He felt so drawn to her, like as if she was the positive magnet and he was the negative magnet.

_**You shouldn't question something so natural. **_

_You're right, I shouldn't. _

His heart kept picking up speed to the point of erratic pace, like he had just run a marathon. He cupped her chin and kissed her cheeks. His lips lightly grazed hers, and he could feel her opening her lips, she was clearly anticipating a kiss. And so was he, he wanted nothing more than to finally taste her lips but he knew he shouldn't. If he was to keep her secret, then he couldn't risk furthering his already growing physical attraction to her.

Roxas willed himself to pull away from Naminé and to prevent her from feeling like she had done something wrong, he grabbed her right hand and gave her soft smile to which she immediately returned.

_I really wish I had met her under different circumstances. None of this cross-dressing thing, just her and I getting to know each other like normal people. _

_**Don't forget that her brother will have to come back at some point. **_

Roxas stiffened at that thought. Snow's injuries were the only reason why she took her brother's place in the first place. When he recuperated, Naminé wouldn't have any reason to remain with the band and she'd go back to her home.

"How long will it take for your brother to recover?" Roxas asked in a low tone.

"A few months, give or take." She answered. "A hip fracture isn't something that easily mends. He's gonna require physical therapy."

"When he's recovered…" Roxas said dejectedly, looking away. "He will take his place."

"It's rightfully his." Naminé whispered sorrowfully. "Snow is the one who Aqua chose for the group's formation."

Roxas glanced at her. "…what about you?"

Naminé blinked confusedly. "What do you mean?"

Roxas sighed. "When Snow recuperates and take his place…what will you do?"

Naminé smiled wistfully, her eyes looking at his door. "Go back home."

She let go of his hand and walked over to his door, opened it and stepped out into the hallway. She looked back at him over her shoulder and gave him a sweet smile before she walked away.

_Go back home? Just like that?_

_**What else can she do? She's taking her brother's place, the moment he comes back, she'll have to go home. **_

_But…maybe she can just stay here anyway._

He looked down at the hand that she had been holding and closed it.

Naminé walked down the stairs to the first floor to find Riku watching TV. The tall silveret was sitting on the leather couch with the remote control in his right hand. Riku looked up at her when she neared the loveseat.

"What's wrong?" he tenderly asked.

"Just thinking." She replied.

"About what?" he smiled.

Naminé sighed, walked over to the leather couch and flopped down on the seat next to him. "When my brother comes back…I'll go back home."

Riku looked away. "Can't you stay here?"

Naminé looked at him. "…I don't…"

She hadn't considered the possibility of staying when her brother took his place…but…even if she did decide to stay, what would she do? When she had decided to usurp her brother, she knew that he would eventually come in and she would step out. Naminé had envisioned that the transition would be smooth, something that would take place unnoticed.

Sure, the guys would notice the sudden height difference and the sudden masculinity of the voice, but she had hoped to be able to switch with her brother without being noticed.

But…what would she do if she decided to stay?

Her eyes met Riku's momentarily before she looked away. "I haven't thought of that."

Riku placed a tender hand on her shoulder and smiled softly. "Just because your brother will be taking his place doesn't mean you have to leave, right?"

Naminé sighed. "I don't know…I just assumed that when he got here, I'd leave unnoticed."

"It'd be hard to not notice if that cute face of yours wasn't around." Riku said gently, causing Naminé to blush.

Naminé looked up at him and gave him a weak smile. "Thanks."

"I meant it, Naminé." Riku said seriously. "You can stay here even when Snow arrives."

_I don't think he'd approve…_

Naminé opened her mouth but closed it and sighed before she opened her mouth again. "I'll think about it."

Riku reached up to her hair and gently combed it with his fingers. "I hope you do."

She felt heat collecting in her cheeks, but at that moment her eyes caught the sight of Xion and Axel in the kitchen throwing pancake flour at each other. She then remembered that she had told Xion that she would ask Riku about his ideal girl.

Riku had moved his hand away and leaned against his seat. Naminé looked over at the kitchen archway and made sure that no one would be paying attention. Sora was whisking the pancake batter in a bowl, Kairi was cooking bacon strips on the stove top on the kitchen island, Axel and Xion were wiping away the flour from their faces, while Vayne, who had removed his chauffer hat, was cooking eggs beside Kairi.

She turned to look at him. "Um, Riku?"

"Yeah?"

"This is going to sound weird, but…" she furrowed her brows worriedly.

"What is it?" he asked concernedly.

Naminé exhaled and steeled herself. "What kind of…"

She trailed away when there was thumping noises coming from the staircase and Naminé's eyes widened and she stood up when she saw Roxas standing on the last step. His fingers where drumming on the staircase rail, his eyebrows were raised and his eyes were set on her and Riku.

When sky and cerulean met, Naminé felt her breath hitching up in her chest. Roxas walked towards them with a stoic look in his handsome face. "Don't let me stop you, Snow. Say what you wanted to say."

Naminé felt her heartbeat go from 30mph to 110mph in just seconds. _If I ask Riku about what type of girls he likes, Roxas will get the wrong idea. _She took a deep breath and turned to look at Riku.

"I wanted to know what type of ice cream you like." She said pleasantly. "I know that you don't like sea salt flavor, so I wanted to know for the next time we go grocery shopping."

To her joy, both Riku and Roxas blinked in confusion, clearly they had been expecting a different question.

"Oh, um, I like Vanilla Glitz." Riku replied.

"Thanks, I'll be sure to remember!" Naminé smiled.

Naminé walked away from the two, away from the living room and into the parlor. She buried her face in her hands and exhaled deeply.

_I need to be careful of what I say to Riku, especially when around Roxas is around. _

Naminé nearly jumped out of her skin when she felt a hand on her shoulder, she whipped her head up and let out a shaky sigh. "Oh Kairi."

"Sorry, I should have announced myself." Kairi said apologetically. "Are you okay? You look stressed."

"It's just…" Naminé exhaled. She could still hear the TV sounds coming from the living room. "Both Roxas and Riku know my secret."

Kairi's navy colored orbs widened and her mouth trembled. "Riku too? But how did he find out?"

"I accompanied my brother to his audition which was on the same night as the guy's. I accidentally bumped into Riku, I nearly fell, but he caught me before I did."

"So he recognized you." Kairi muttered, face-palming and then slowly dragging her hand down her face. "So this secret is only a secret to Sora?"

Naminé nodded guiltily.

Kairi sighed tiredly. "Well as long they don't say anything…"

"I know Roxas won't." Naminé said immediately. "And I'm pretty sure Riku isn't like that."

Kairi crossed her arms. "You know that we're gonna have to tell Aqua about this."

"Why?"

"It's better that Aqua knows," Kairi replied as she leaned against a wall. "It's best that we don't keep secrets from her. If she were to find out that both guys know your secret and we didn't tell her, she's going to be pretty upset."

Naminé looked at Kairi uncertainly. "Are we gonna tell her about last night?"

Kairi stood up straight and looked rather cross. "Definitely. We can't let Vanitas get away with what he did; that demon will pay for what he did to us."

"Damn right he will."

The two girls turned around as Xion walked to them with a fierce glow in her azure orbs. "I want to see that asshole rot in jail."

Kairi nodded. "I can't believe that he and Sora are brothers."

"It's like the story of Cain and Abel, the evil brother and the good brother." Naminé murmured.

Xion walked to her sister and leaned against the wall behind the redhead. "I don't normally make those types of comparisons, but I agree in this case."

"How long do you think it'll take for Aqua to start calling?" Naminé asked Kairi.

"Kairi!" Sora yelled in a panicked voice.

"Not long." Kairi sighed tiredly and then she walked to the living room, with Naminé and Xion following her. Kairi stopped in front of Sora, while Naminé and Xion moved over to where Roxas and Riku stood.

Sora was holding his cell in his hand with a nervous look sketched on his face. Axel and Vayne were standing in the kitchen archway, while Riku and Roxas stood on the right and left side respectively. Sora looked up at Kairi and gulped. "It's Aqua…what do I say to her?"

Axel shook his head. "You better let Kairi speak to her, kiddo."

Kairi walked over to Sora and he handed her his phone. The redheaded beauty looked at his phone and then sighed.

"Morning Aqua." Kairi said in a cheery voice. "Oh, sorry I think I left my phone in my purse, which is probably in Sora's room."

Sora's cheeks turned a bright shade of pink at this.

"What?" Kairi's eyes nearly popped out of her sockets and her cheeks were as red as her hair. "Nothing like that happened! I just fell asleep on his bed!"

Roxas, Riku, Xion, Axel and Vayne burst into laughter while Naminé covered her mouth to her laughter in. on the other hand, Sora's jaw dropped, and his cheeks were bypassing red and turned maroon.

"I'm being honest Aqua!" Kairi insisted. "No, Sora slept in Roxas's room!"

"That sounds so wrong." Sora grumbled into his hands.

Kairi exhaled and with her left hand Kairi covered her eyes as if she had a massive headache. "Okay, okay I get it."

Kairi walked over to the loveseat and flopped down on one of the seat cushions, leaning her head against it. "We were tired, that's all. The guys were exhausted; Xion and I just decided to spend the night here, honestly."

There was silence for a moment before Kairi narrowed her oceanic eyes. "You met Sora's older brother?"

Almost immediately the air in the living room became deathly cold. Naminé felt her blood start to boil; just recalling how that man had pinned her against the wall and tried to grope her. She felt a comforting hand hold her shoulder and Naminé placed her own hand over it. She didn't need to see who the owner of the hand was to know that it was Roxas's hand on her shoulder. Beside her, Xion wrapped her arms around herself and had an angry expression on her doll-like face.

"Did he now?" the contempt in Kairi's voice was thinly veiled. Her eyes shifted back and forth before she closed them. She leaned forward and rested her elbows on her thighs, her left hand pressing against her mouth. Her brows knitted closer as if she was hearing something utterly revolting. Kairi's eyes snapped open; her expression completely livid, she stood up from her seat and clenched her left hand into a tight fist.

"Aqua, there's a reason why he gives you a bad vibe." Kairi's voice was so hoarse and deep, she sounded almost inhuman. "Trust me, that guy is a complete monster."

Naminé glanced over at Sora; his normally bright blue eyes had darkened as his fists shook at his sides. Naminé placed a hand on Sora's bicep; he looked at her and gave her an incredibly forced smile, before returning his gaze to the floor.

"…we uh…" Kairi sighed. "Had an argument with him."

Naminé looked back at the redhead as she began walking over to them. Kairi closed her eyes again and with her left hand, she reached out for Sora's right hand. Sora blinked in confusion momentarily, but he gripped her hand back. Whatever it was that Aqua was saying, Kairi was reacting like a hurt child seeking comfort.

"I understand." Kairi said solemnly. "We'll see you guys in a bit."

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><p><strong>And that's that! One thing guys, after the upcoming chapter, I will start skipping days to get the other media related events going. Mostly because there's a few cameos that I've been dying to write about... hee.<strong>

**See ya next update~! :D**


	13. Understanding

**Your eyes are not playing tricks on you, a new chapter is here! So, I fucked up pretty badly on a big plot point in the last chapter that at first I considered removing entirely, but since people had already read that chapter...I left it there, so now I have to work around that. **

**Another thing; I'm gonna guess and say that the last chapter sucked balls since I got very little feedback for it. If you hated it, don't worry, I do too. Hopefully this one will better. **

**I do not own Kingdom Hearts, Disney or Final Fantasy. **

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><p><strong>Understanding<strong>

**Saturday, May 23**

Naminé walked out of her bathroom with nothing but her towel wrapped around her small frame, water trailing down from her soaked hair. On her bed was an orange v-neck tee with light blue borders, her small boxers and a pair of khaki shorts. Naminé removed her towel and placed it on the chair in front of her desk; she then walked over to her dresser and grabbed her chest binding wrap. She then walked back to her bed and grabbed her boxers; she gave them a long look and realized that her boxers would probably fit a little boy or at least one with a small frame as hers.

Naminé put on her boxers and then her khaki shorts before she started binding her chest. She was beginning to grow rather resentful of having to do this; for years after she hit puberty, Naminé was used to seeing her small chest. She used to hate being smaller that most girls in her class, Mrs. Potts and Belle would talk to her about how all girls developed differently. Naminé glanced over at the vanity mirror on her dresser and sighed.

_And here I thought I was flat before._

Tearing her eyes away from her own reflected chest, Naminé focused on her face's reflection instead. The bruise on her forehead was much more noticeable than the previous night. She looked down at her wrists and she gasped.

The imprints on Vanitas's long, thin fingers were a blood red color that heavily contrasted with her ivory skin. Naminé felt her eyes began to water while his mad laughter echoed in her mind repeatedly. She shook her head trying to get his voice out of her head, when she heard someone knocking on her door.

"Who is it?" Naminé rasped.

"It's me."

_Roxas! _

She walked over to her door, unlocked it and opened it. Roxas's sky blue orbs widened and his cheeks turned a rose shade upon seeing her. Naminé didn't care that she was wearing nothing but her khaki shorts and her binding wrap. She pressed her face on his chest and wrapped her arms around him tightly, completely surprising him.

"Whoa," he breathed. "Let's get inside your room."

She nodded but refused to let him go; holding her tightly, he guided her inside her room and closed her door behind them.

"What's wrong?" he asked after he locked her door. "I came up to tell you breakfast is ready and it looks like you had a nightmare."

Naminé looked up at him and shakily said, "I…I kept hearing Vanitas's laughter in my head. I know I'm being silly, but it just wouldn't go away."

Roxas's eyes darkened. "That bastard will pay for what he did to you girls. I don't care that he's my cousin, what he did was unforgiveable and I'll gladly renounce any blood ties to him."

"I can't imagine how Stella must feel knowing she has a son like Vanitas."

Roxas walked them over to her bed and they both sat down on the edge of her mattress. "The thing is…Vanitas acts very differently around mom and dad. While he's still far from being an angel, he never does anything barbaric around them."

Naminé looked confused. "So he manipulates them?"

"I guess that's one way of putting it." Roxas replied. "He always did things when they weren't around, which always frustrated us when we tried to tell mom and dad that he was responsible, it became a near impossibility to prove."

"But Stella is such a sensible person!" Naminé said. "And from what you, Sora and Riku have said, Noctis sounds like an equally intelligent man!"

At the mention of the silveret's name, Roxas's upper lip twitched. Naminé recalled her conversation from the previous night with Riku; he had said that Roxas had been arrogant when he was a young boy, and that that was the reason why Riku disliked Roxas so much. Naminé wondered what Roxas would say to that claim.

"Wait, why would Riku talk to you about dad?" Roxas asked in a suspicious tone, his brows lowering and his eyes narrowing.

"Oh, he only mentioned Noctis in passing." Naminé serenely replied. She hoped her tone of voice wouldn't raise his suspicions, but she was quite wrong. Roxas let go of her and crossed his arms.

"Why would Riku even mention it in passing?" Roxas asked dryly.

"We were talking about his childhood," Naminé answered. "And he mentioned that Stella and Noctis treated you no differently than their sons."

Roxas leaned forward and rested his arms on his thighs, his eyes glued to the floor. "I bet he sounded bitter. When Sora and I got our instruments, he was pissed. He tried to hide it by congratulating us, but the look in his eyes spoke volumes. Riku has never been good at masking his jealousy. "

"He did admit to feeling jealousy," Naminé said softly. "I mean, he had worked so hard for his bass guitar and you guys just received yours as gifts."

Roxas gave a hollow laugh. "Riku honestly thought our instruments were given to us, just like that?"

Naminé suddenly felt very uncomfortable; there was fierce glow in Roxas's eyes that she had never seen in them.

"Mom and Dad promised to buy our instruments if Sora and I both aced our end-of-term exams." Roxas said crossly. "Sora and I busted our asses studying day and night for those finals."

_Wait, I thought Riku said that Roxas never studied, always aced everything and rubbed it in front of everyone's faces?_

Naminé looked over at Roxas; his eyes seemed to be burning holes into her floor. "Did you always work hard for your grades?"

At this, his eyes met her eyes and his expression softened. "Kinda. I got really lazy around 10th and 11th grade; I hardly did any of my work. I mean, I took notes, did the assignments in class, but I had a bad habit of blowing off my homework."

"Did you ever…brag about your grades?" Naminé hesitantly asked.

Roxas raised an eyebrow. "I think you're confusing me with Riku."

Naminé realized that their rivalry was deeply rooted, and it was painfully clear that both sides were going to blame the other.

Against her better judgment, Naminé pressed forward. "Riku was a show off?"

Roxas scoffed. "When hasn't he been anything but a show off? Every time he aced a test, exam, essay or whatever, he'd brag about it instantly. He'd also often combine that with a joke at Sora's expense. And while I do get that they have a friendly rivalry going, I feel that Riku can take it too far sometimes."

"Did you ever see Riku as a rival in anyway?" she tentatively asked.

"Honestly, no." Roxas replied. "Any rivalry with Riku was always with Sora, like I said. I only snapped whenever Riku got confrontational with me."

"Was he always an instigator?" Naminé knew that Roxas was gonna blame Riku entirely, but she still wanted to know Roxas's side.

"I'll admit that there have been a lot of times when I'd say or do something that would piss him off." He said solemnly. "I never really liked Riku much and I know I'm not his favorite person in the world. We have very little in common, but we both feel a mutual dislike for each other."

He got up from her bed and turned around to face her. "Naminé…"

"Yes?" she mumbled.

"Why…" he sighed. "Why are you so interested in Riku?"

Naminé gasped. Amidst her curiosity she failed to realize that all the questions relating to the silveret would naturally cause Roxas to be suspicious. "I was just curious about his early life, that's all."

Sky blue eyes looked unconvinced, his facial expression reproachful. "But why are you so curious about him?"

"Can't I get to know my friends?" she asked in mild indignation. "Why does it bother you?"

Roxas's expression softened. He walked forward, stretched his right hand out and softly caressed her cheek, his thumb lightly grazing her lower lip. He kneeled in front of her leaned closer to her, taking one of her hands with his left hand. Their faces were completely leveled with each other, their eyes locked together.

Naminé felt her heart beat quickening as he rested his forehead against hers, their noses touching and their breaths intermingling.

Naminé's lashes fluttered as his gaze was becoming too much for her.

"You really don't know why?" his voice was so soft, it was barely above a whisper.

His head tilted to the right side, the tip of his nose gently rubbing hers as his lips ghosted over hers. Roxas's actions, his words, his tone, his touch…everything he did made her think that his intentions were romantic…hopefully.

The magical aura that surrounded them was shattered like brittle glass when someone knocked in Naminé's door, again. Roxas's lips had been inching towards her lips, but stopped right where he was and made a disgruntled noise in the back of his throat. He looked over at her door with a scowl on his handsome face.

It took Naminé a few seconds to gather her wits about, get up and make her way towards her door. As she neared it, she shakily rasped out, "W-who is it?"

"It's me." Riku replied. "Breakfast is ready, are you hungry?"

Naminé's eyes widened in panic and she looked over at Roxas; he looked angry, his eyes were fixed on her door. "Why am I not even surprised?" he hissed.

He quickly got to his feet and marched towards her door. She grabbed onto his shirt as he closed his hand on her doorknob.

"What are you doing?" she hissed worriedly.

"Why are you so interested…?" he hissed bitterly. "You're just like all of the other girls…"

Naminé felt a sudden pain sting in her heart; her brain seemed to cease all functions as her hand released his shirt and tears collected in her eyes. "What?"

"Girls never bother to get to know a guy." Roxas whispered resentfully. "They just go after the hot guy, never caring for his personality."

"I'm not…" she blinked tearfully. "Not like that."

Roxas let his hand drop from the doorknob and turned to look at her, his face clearly showing a mixture of regret and reproach. He was about to take her into his arms, but Riku once again made his presence known by knocking on her door.

"Are you in there?" Riku asked worriedly.

Roxas glared at her door but then marched over to her bed and picked up her orange tee. It dawned on Naminé that she was only wearing her khaki shorts and her binding wrap. Were it not for her chest wrap, she would be completely topless. Roxas walked back to her and handed her the shirt and she quickly put her shirt on. Roxas walked over to her bathroom and entered, then closed the door behind him.

Naminé turned around and opened her bedroom door. "Hi Riku."

"Hey," he said with soft, yet worried smile. "Is everything okay? You look like you're about to cry."

"Oh no, I was yawning." Naminé replied. "You know how when you're tired you yawn and sometimes you cry?"

"Ah, I see." Riku chuckled. "That happens to me all the time. So, are you hungry? Breakfast is ready."

"Yeah." She smiled. "I'll be right down."

"Okay." Riku smiled back. He turned around, began to walk away, but then he stopped in his tracks and turned to face her again. "Roxas was supposed to come up and tell you breakfast is ready."

Naminé's smile faltered and she feigned innocence. "He was?"

"Didn't he come by?" Riku asked, his jade colored eyes piercing into her cerulean ones.

She wanted to look into Roxas's sky colored eyes instead, but he was hiding inside her bathroom and she wasn't going to barge in and give him away. "No, I haven't seen him."

"Hm." Riku's eyes shifted before he walked away.

Naminé let out a sigh of relief and closed her door. She rested her forehead against her door momentarily before she turned around, her small frame resting on her door, her eyes closing. "He left."

She heard her bathroom door creaking open and then she heard it closing. She opened her eyes and saw Roxas walking towards her. "Why couldn't I just tell him that you're in my room?"

"Because…" he said offhandedly.

"Because what?" she insisted. "Roxas, I don't like lying. All I've ever done since I signed the contract and took brother's place is lie. I had to lie to you, Sora, Riku, your mom, the entire KH Company, and now that we've been officially announced, I'm a world-wide liar."

"But you did that for your brother." Roxas said softly. "You signed that contract because that's his dream and the key to his future. You didn't sign for any selfish reasons."

"I know, but…" she looked away from him. "I'm still a liar, anyone I meet I have to lie to about my identity. I can't say that my name is Naminé." She closed her eyes and hung her head in shame. "I'm a terrible person."

"No, you're not." Roxas firmly said. "Naminé, what you did was put your own life aside to help your brother live out his dream. Yes, you have to lie, but the reason behind it doesn't necessarily make you a bad person. You're not a killer, you're not a thief, and you're certainly not a rapist."

Naminé let out a weak laugh.

"Don't feel bad about your brother's situation anymore." Roxas said in a soothing voice. "And though you're passing yourself off as him, you're not him. You're you."

Naminé felt Roxas moving closer to her, so she finally looked up at him and saw him smiling gently.

"So…why couldn't I tell Riku that you _were_ up here?"

Roxas's eyes darkened a little and he frowned. "We should head downstairs before anyone else comes up here." He said dryly.

_Why won't he tell me? Why doesn't he want Riku to know that he was up here, hiding in my bathroom?_

"Okay." Naminé said quietly. She pushed herself away from her door right as Roxas took her in his arms and kissed her forehead.

* * *

><p>Breakfast was ungodly quiet, so much so that any other sound seemed magnified tenfold. Roxas could hear the clinking of utensils meeting the plates, the crunching of food, every single gulp, and the nervous shuffling of feet. His eyes looked around the room; it was there that he saw the exact same expression on everyone's faces.<p>

Blank, as if everyone's soul had been sucked out of them. All eyes were dull and unfocused, mouths chewing on food in a robotic manner. Roxas looked down at his own plate was blinked.

It was empty.

He didn't have the slightest clue of when he had even finished eating his pancakes, eggs, bacon strips, or his toast. He couldn't even recall any of the flavors. Roxas grabbed his glass of orange juice and took a few sips. It was disturbingly flavorless, and he loved orange juice.

The minutes rolled on by in what seemed like hours in the stillness of the silence. But suddenly Axel stood up from his seat and dug his hands into his jeans and pulled his cell.

"Terra just texted me." He said in a dry voice. "They're here."

Roxas swallowed the last of his juice, Naminé stopped eating her bacon strip, Riku put his fork down, Xion stopped chewing, Sora wiped his mouth with his napkin, and Kairi dropped her piece of toast.

Axel walked out of the dining room, while Vayne stood up from his seat and went to stand near the archway between the dining room and the kitchen.

"Don't worry guys." Vayne said softly. "I'm sure Terra and Aqua will understand once you explain everything."

The words would have had a more profound effect if Roxas hadn't heard the front door opening and closing. In that instant the air in the room became compressed and the nervousness intensified. Every second that passed felt like an eternity, each and every one of the six youths waited anxiously for the engaged couple's reaction to the five wounded faces.

The front door opened and closed again, and this time Roxas distinctively heard a pair of heels clacking on the tiled floor. His heartbeat increased as the sounds of three pairs of shoes approached them. Roxas looked over at Naminé; she had hidden her hands under the table cloth, but Roxas could clearly see her hands tightly gripping the end of her khaki shorts from his angle. The grip on her shorts was so tight that her knuckles were already turning white.

Roxas reached for her left hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. She didn't look up or say anything when he enlaced their finger together, but she did squeeze his hand back. Even though he had reached out to her to offer her comfort, he realized that he too, needed reassurance. And a simple gesture as her returning his squeeze was more than enough…it honestly spoke in volumes louder than any words could have done.

Aqua was the first to walk into the dining room and upon seeing their faces, she gasped. She covered her mouth with one hand and her eyes widened.

"What is…?" she said shakily. "What's all of this? What on earth happened to you?"

Aqua's crystalline orbs went back and forth between all of their faces with a mixture of indignation and sorrow. Even her hands were shaking with anger.

"Aqua, please." Kairi said softly. "Calm down."

Terra walked into view and his jaw dropped. "'Calm down'?" he said incredulously. "Kairi, look at you! Look at all of you!"

"Actually Terra," Axel walked in with slight smirk on his face. "You may have not noticed, but Riku is the exception here. Damn Pretty Boy isn't damaged."

"Axel, leave your tasteless jokes for another time." Terra curtly said.

"All of you…" Aqua pointed an accusatory finger at the six youths. "Start talking right now."

"I want to know everything that happened and don't you dare lie." Terra said menacingly.

When no one sitting down said anything it was Axel who spoke up. "Sora's older brother did this."

"When, last night?" Terra looked over at Sora. "Was that the reason why you all left so suddenly?"

Sora nodded gravely.

"And why didn't you tell us?" Aqua demanded. "Instead of running away, why didn't you guys come to us? You could at least have called security!"

"We didn't think about that…" Sora murmured.

"We didn't have time to think." Riku added. "When Sora, Roxas and I got downstairs, Vanitas was…"

"What?" Terra barked.

"He was…" Roxas inhaled deeply as his mind quickly conjured up images of the previous night's events. "Vanitas was beating up Kairi, Xion and Snow."

"What?" Terra roared.

"How could he?" Aqua hissed furiously. "That…_freak_!"

"Start from the very beginning guys." Axel said. "And I mean as far back as Wednesday."

"Wednesday?" Aqua looked over at Axel. "What happened on Wednesday?"

"Vanitas showed up at the offices." Roxas answered. "He, uh…tried to force himself on Kairi that day."

Kairi's upper lip twitched in anger as tears collected in her eyes. Sora moved his chair right next to hers and he quickly took her in his arms. She buried her face in his chest, gripping his t-shirt tightly while her body began to shake. Sora kissed her forehead and gently stroked her crimson tresses.

"I was in a rehearsal room nearby when I heard a commotion." Axel said solemnly. "When I walked out into the hallway, I saw Roxas holding Vanitas back while Kairi was trying to keep Sora calm."

"Why the hell didn't you call security then?" Terra hissed.

"I _was _going to!" Axel said defensively. "But Roxas talked Vanitas into leaving! I mean, how the fucking hell was I supposed to know that this asshole was going to come back!"

Aqua turned back to face the six of them. "You do realize that if any of you had said something then all of this could have been avoided?"

"Aqua we know that." Sora said earnestly.

"Then why didn't you tell us!" Terra growled.

"We didn't want any trouble." Kairi sniffled.

"Unfortunately for you, that backfired magnificently." Aqua said in a disapproving tone.

Terra rubbed his temples. "And last night he attacked because…?"

"Kairi was gonna call security." Naminé spoke in a grave sounding voice. Just like at the premiere Q&A panel, she sounded like a heavy chain smoker.

All eyes were on her now; her gaze was firmly set on the plate before her. Roxas truly admired her bravery. Even though it looked like she could break down at any moment, she kept herself steady.

"She and I were in the lobby when he appeared." Naminé continued. "She said that she was gonna call security but he stopped her."

Hearing her hoarse voice recount the events of how much pain Vanitas inflicted upon both of them was nearly unbearable. Kairi and Xion could cry freely at any time, but not Naminé. She had to keep her tears from spilling, while maintain her manly voice. Roxas wanted to pull her away from everyone else's view, to take in his room and hold her tight. To tell her that it was okay to let her emotions out, to cry as much as she wanted to. She carried so much weight on her shoulders; she was trying to keep up a façade for the sake of her brother. He didn't know how she did it, and he honestly didn't know if _he_ would've ever been able to do the same.

"He pressed Kairi against him so that she couldn't move." Naminé said. "I ran up to him and pushed him as hard as I could."

Roxas felt immensely proud of Naminé, despite her small frame and stature she had gave it her all and put up a fight.

"It broke out from there." Xion spoke up. "I heard them all yelling and I ran over to them. I threw Riku's blazer over his head to block his view so that we could get away, but he was quicker than I thought."

"He just wouldn't stop." Naminé hissed. "Every single that we threw was more fuel to his fire."

Naminé and Xion continued to tell their side of the events for as much as they could. At one point neither of the two could muster any words out of their mouths, so Riku then began to recount the events from how he, Roxas and Sora lived them. From when Xion had been hurt while leaving Cornelia Castle, to Kairi insisting on treating the cuts on Xion's arm, to the three girls leaving the VIP room. To how the three guys started to worry that they were taking too long, when they walked out and heard the girls screaming, then when they ran down the staircase and pulling the girls aside, to each guy giving Vanitas a well deserved beating and finally, Vanitas leaving.

Axel then talked about how he had been curious to their whereabouts so he left the VIP room and saw them in the lobby. How he got medical treatment for Vanille while the six youths escaped unnoticed.

Aqua shook her head and looked at her husband-to-be. "We have to increase the security."

"The sooner we get to that, the better." Terra agreed. "Sora, do you have any pictures of your brother that we can provide to the security guards?"

"No." Sora replied in a deep voice. "I don't want anything with him in it."

Once again, Roxas found it eerily disturbing how much Sora could sound like Vanitas. And judging by the looks on Kairi, Naminé, Xion and Riku's faces, they had clearly taken notice of the change in Sora's vocal range.

"Maybe…" Riku spoke in a cautious tone. "We can call Stella and ask her for a picture."

"She wouldn't hesitate to give us one." Roxas said quickly.

"Aqua…" Kairi said quietly. "On the phone you said that you had run into Vanitas…when was that?"

"Last night." The bluenette replied. "At around midnight, as Terra and I were leaving Oblivion."

"So you met him outside then?" Xion asked.

"No, we met him inside." Terra answered. "He had his invitation."

Kairi and Naminé exchanged shocked looks.

"But that can't be!" Naminé protested.

"I ripped his invitation to pieces!" Kairi hissed.

"He showed us an invitation." Aqua insisted. "It was in one piece, signed by Xemnas, with the company logo and everything."

"Wait," Xion said slowly. "We mailed three invitations to Sora's home."

"When did you mail them out?" Riku asked the brunette.

"Monday," the raven haired girl replied. "The invitations were for reserved seats during the conference as well as entry to the after party in Oblivion."

"If the invitations were mailed out on Monday, then that's enough days for mom and dad to have booked a flight here." Roxas scowled. "Unless…"

"Unless what?" Sora frowned.

"Unless…that asshole kept mom and dad's invitations!" Roxas fumed. "That's why mom and dad didn't come!"

"Goddamn him!" Sora growled. He then looked over at Xion. "Didn't you call my parents at the premiere?"

"I did!" Xion answered. "They lamented that they wouldn't be able to make the trip."

"And they never mentioned that they didn't get any invitations?" Roxas asked the petite brunette.

"No." Xion said softly. She looked over at Riku and said, "Your parents said the same thing, too…that they wouldn't be able to attend the conference."

"I wasn't banking on them to show up." Riku said amiably. "They're not like that, plus they hate traveling."

"Wait," Vayne spoke up. "Terra, Aqua when you saw Sora's brother last night…did you see any bruises on him? By the sound of what I've heard, Vanitas got a well deserved, sound thrashing."

Terra's brows creased thoughtfully. "Actually, now that you bring that up…we didn't."

"When we came across him, he was standing in a dimly light area." Aqua elaborated. "He didn't say his name; just that he was Sora's brother and that he was looking for him."

"All I saw was a silhouette and his weird yellow eyes." Terra muttered. "When we told him that you guys had all already left, he started to laugh and then he left."

"So…" Axel moved closer to the engaged couple. "When do we tell this to Xemnas? I mean, how else are we going to explain that we need tighter security for these guys?"

"He's in his office right now." Terra said. "The sooner he knows the better."

"Fine," Axel smirked. "Let's get this over with."

Terra turned to look at Aqua and kissed her. "We'll be back in a while."

"Okay." She smiled.

As Terra and Axel left, Aqua walked over to one of the two empty seats and sat down. Her eyes scanned the six table occupants, Roxas was sure that she was looking at their injuries.

"What are we gonna do about our wounds?" Naminé's question wasn't directed at anyone in particular, she was just hoping for an answer.

"I was thinking about that." Aqua replied in a motherly tone. "While bruises can be covered up with makeup easily, I think it'd be better if the cuts were left clean so that they can heal properly."

Kairi turned to look at her little sister. "Doesn't grandma have a really good ointment that helps seal up cuts?"

"That's right!" Xion replied. "But…how do we get it from her?"

"I'll call her and ask her for the ointment's name." Aqua smiled.

"Um…Aqua?" Kairi nervously chuckled. "We, uh, told grandma that we were spending the night at your house."

Aqua gave the redhead a reprimanding look. "Why didn't you just tell her the truth? I mean, you could have at least given her half a truth by saying you were spending the night at a friend's house."

"But you know how she asks for details." Kairi pouted. "Can you imagine what she would have said if we told her where we were spending the night in?"

"That would have gone real well." Xion said dryly. She then put her thumb by her ear and her pinky by her mouth as if it were a phone. "Hey Grandma? We're not coming home tonight; instead Kairi and I are spending the night in a house full of men."

"Geez, Xion." Riku chortled. "You make it sound so bad."

"Seriously." Roxas chuckled.

"I mean look at what happened with Aqua!" Kairi pointed at a confused looking bluenette. "I told you that I left my cell in Sora's room and you jumped to the wrong conclusion!"

Laughter burst out from all around the room and Aqua's cheeks reddened.

"What else was I supposed to think?" Aqua said, half-stern and half-amused. "The only way that your phone could have ended up in Sora's room was if you were in there yourself!"

"But how does my phone being left behind in Sora's room lead you to think that we had sex?" Kairi asked incredulously. At this Sora's cheeks had bypassed red and became maroon.

"I mean, granted I did sleep in Sora's bed," Kairi said before quickly adding, "But I was by myself for the rest of the night!"

Sora frowned at that fact.

"I told you that you should have kept her company." Roxas said smugly. Both Sora and Kairi's cheeks turned the same shade of red.

"You missed your chance Sora." Riku snickered. "Sucks to be you, man."

"Oh shut up!" Sora grabbed his dirty napkin and threw it across the table at his best friend, but Riku easily caught it with a smug look on his face.

"Anyways," Aqua said, clearly holding back her laughter. "I'll think of something to tell your grandma, girls, so don't worry."

"Would you like to leave now, Ms. Holland?" Vayne asked courteously. "I can drive you if you want."

"Yeah, I think we should go now." Aqua sighed as she got up from her seat. She looked over her shoulder and smiled playfully at the other six. "Don't think I need to say this, but you guys should stay here."

"Aw, but I wanted to go!" Sora said in child-like voice.

Aqua shook her head but giggled anyway, while Vayne snickered behind his hand. Riku got up from his seat and walked with Aqua and the redheaded chauffer to the front door.

* * *

><p>The dishes had certainly managed to pile up by the time that everyone had finished their breakfast. Even though there had been some food left over, Naminé decided to put the leftovers in plastic containers before she decided to store them in the fridge. She grabbed the two large containers and nearly dropped them on the floor, but she managed to hold onto them at the last second.<p>

"Need a hand?"

Naminé looked up and smiled at Sora; the jovial brunet took the two containers out of Naminé's hands and carried them over to the fridge.

"Thanks Sora." Naminé rasped warmly.

"No problem!" Sora grinned.

After he had put away the contained leftovers, Sora looked around the kitchen and then back at Naminé with a slight frown. "Where's everyone else?"

"Hmm, Roxas and Kairi are cleaning up the dining room." Naminé answered thoughtfully. "And I think Riku and Xion are tidying up the living room."

"And so they left you to do the kitchen alone?" Sora said in a put off manner. "That's not nice, the kitchen is bigger than the dining and living rooms combined! And none of them offered to help you?"

"They did, but I can do this on my own." Naminé replied serenely. "Back at home, I used to always lend a helping hand in the kitchens. And those were as big as this house."

"Wow, really?" Sora looked rather impressed. "That's so strange; most guys I know avoid helping out in the kitchen like a plague."

"Really?" Naminé chuckled.

"Cooking is one thing," Sora said pleasantly before his voice dropped to a whisper. "But cleaning…"

He made a face that said that cleaning was something to be averted at all costs, but yet his sky colored orbs held a tint of playfulness that made it hard for Naminé to take his words seriously while keeping a straight face. The brunet then began loading up plates and glasses into the dish washer, while the blonde walked over to the kitchen island and began cleaning up the mess on the island's counter. There were large splatters of pancake mix, milk, egg whites and butter all over.

"You and Kairi certainly made a heck of a mess." Naminé said in a reprimanding tone. "It looks like two little kids were let loose in here rather than two twenty-year olds!"

Sora grinned sheepishly. "Hee…sorry!"

Naminé narrowed her eyes and tried her best to look threatening, but she knew she probably wasn't too convincing. "Do it again and you'll clean it yourself."

"Geez Snow." Sora laughed. "You sound like my mom more than a little brother."

Naminé blinked rapidly and looked back at the island counter. "I-I was just kidding."

"And so was I." Sora chortled. "Shouldn't you know this by now? I mean, we've known each other for almost two weeks!"

Naminé looked at him with a small smile. "…right!"

By the time Naminé had fished cleaning up the island, Sora was putting away the newly washed dishes on their respective places. Naminé watched him with a worried expression on her face.

_How much is this whole situation weighing on his mind? It's his own flesh and blood that attacked us. If Vanitas tries anything again and he gets caught, he'll end up in jail for sure. How does Sora feel knowing that his only brother will be behind bars, even if he deserves it? _

Naminé looked down at the tiled floor and closed her eyes.

_I know I wouldn't be able to bear it…if it were Snow in Vanitas's place. My heart would break beyond repair…_

"Snow?" Sora asked worriedly. "Are you okay?"

Naminé looked up at him and saw his concerned expression. Her first initial thought was to smile it off, but she couldn't. She knew she wouldn't be able to manage a fake smile when her heart was so uneasy.

"If…"she sighed shakily before finding the strength to gather her words. "If Vanitas gets caught…he could end up in jail."

Sora's eyes darkened. "Fine by me. That ass deserves to be put in jail."

"But he's your brother." Naminé rasped dolefully. "…your only brother."

Sora looked away from her and balled up his fists. "…I know he is, that's what kills me the most."

"If I had a brother…" Naminé tried her hardest to steady her raspy voice. "I don't think I could be able to see him in jail. No matter what he's done or even if it's well deserved."

When Sora didn't reply or move, Naminé continued.

"Admittedly, I don't know what Vanitas was like when he was young, and he doesn't strike me as caring brother…" she gulped and then inhaled deeply. "But I just couldn't be able to do it."

When Sora finally turned to face her, Naminé was startled to see tears welling up in his eyes. "Do you know what kinds of games he used to force us to play when we were kids?"

Naminé shook her head as she walked closer to him. "Wh-what kind of games…?"

"He'd put a blindfold over your eyes and then he'd drag you through the scorching sand barefooted. Sometimes he liked to hide us somewhere where no one would hear you scream, and trust me, we screamed at the top of our lungs." Sora said darkly. "But Vanitas's favorite game to play by far was called 'Victim'."

Naminé was afraid to ask what that game could possibly be about.

She wouldn't even need to ask, for Sora continued to speak in a voice so deep, it sounded too much like Vanitas's own. It was immensely unsettling how he could do that.

"Vanitas would take us to an abandoned old butcher shop where he would poke us, if not outright cut us with the old knives or animal hooks there. Sometimes…he'd force us to lick off the dried animal blood on the knives."

Naminé covered her mouth from the horror. "That's sickening."

"You have no idea." Sora's eyes darkened. "Other times he would insist that we clean the dry blood on the floor…with our tongues. "

Naminé felt disgusted to her very core, she began to feel her hands shaking and the bile on the tip of her own tongue. "Didn't you guys ever tell anyone?"

"None of the adults were ever going to believe that a seven year old boy would do something like that to his brother, his cousin, and the neighbor from across the street. I mean, who could take two four year olds and one five year old seriously?"

"But he's your brother!" Naminé spat, tears cascading down her cheeks. "I just can't believe that he'd do that to you! If I would've had a little brother, I'd protect him from anyone! Not torture him or beat him up!"

Sora looked at her dejectedly. "Wouldn't that have been nice…?"

Naminé shook her head adamantly, and then she furiously wiped away her tears. She felt Sora wrap his arms around her and gave a weary sigh.

"Don't worry too much about it, okay?" he lightly patted her back. "It's just how things are. And if Vanitas being sent to jail is the only way for mom and dad to see him for the sick fuck that he is, then so be it."

Naminé closed her eyes and tried to control her breathing. "I guess…"

"Let's talk about something else, hmm?" he smiled warmly at her.

Naminé smiled warmly back at him as they separated. _I guess now would be a good time to ask him about Roxas and Riku's rivalry. _

"Sora?"

"Yeah?"

"Have Roxas and Riku…always hated each other?" Naminé murmured.

Sora huffed and leaned back against the island counter. "I wouldn't call it hate…extreme dislike seems more like it. And they've been at it as far as I can remember."

Naminé leaned against the same counter right beside him. "But why?"

Sora's brows creased thoughtfully. "I honestly don't know why…it just seems like they have a natural talent to piss each other off easily."

"But that had to have started somewhere." Naminé insisted.

"Roxas was always against playing with other kids." Sora murmured. "The day when we first met Riku, Roxas immediately opposed the idea of letting Riku play with us."

"Maybe he felt that if you had other friends, then you wouldn't play with him anymore." Naminé said sincerely.

"I can see that being a good reason." Sora said thoughtfully. "I noticed that they never agreed on what to play; if Riku wanted to play tag, Roxas wanted to play hide-and-seek. If Riku wanted to play pretend to be pirates, then Roxas wanted to play pretend to be soldiers."

"But why?" Naminé said breathlessly. "Why were they like that?"

"As kids you don't really need a reason to dislike someone." Sora said pointedly.

"But they're not kids anymore." Naminé said fervently. "I've spoken with the two of them individually and they haven't given me a real answer."

Sora pushed himself off from the counter. "Then maybe there isn't a real reason. At least they know how to act civil towards each other."

Sora began walking towards the dining room archway when he stopped in his tracks and then turned to face her. "One thing's for sure; I'd hate to see how Roxas and Riku would treat each other if they ever fell in love with the same girl."

Naminé's eyes widened and her heart began to beat rapidly as Sora walked away. Sora's words began replaying in her mind over and over, like track on loop.

_I know that Riku is interested in me…and Roxas…I know that his kisses meant more than just friendship. I don't think that such soft delicate kisses can be given to friends. They have to mean something more…something deep, beyond friendship. _

A warm rapturous feeling enveloped her entire body as she recalled Roxas's sweet kisses, his warmth, his gentle touch and his loving gaze.

"Well, don't you look happy?"

Naminé snapped out of her reverie and looked up to find Riku walking into the kitchen. He was smiling pleasantly and his viridian eyes held a gentle glow to them, which only intensified as he neared her.

"So…" Riku said softly. "What thought caused that beautiful smile of yours?"

Naminé felt her cheeks heating up. "Oh, no real reason really."

"Uh huh…" Riku looked unconvinced. "From what I know about girls, a smile like that is usually caused by thinking of a guy she might like."

Naminé's cheeks felt like they were on fire. "I wasn't thinking about a guy!"

"Naminé." Riku chuckled. "No offense, but you're not a very good liar."

Naminé folded her arms and frowned. "So how come an entire record company completely believes that I'm a guy?"

Riku shrugged. "Beats me, I find it incredibly obvious that you're a girl. Really, the fact that an important record company like KH Records believes that you're the real Snow Martin baffles me."

Naminé huffed. "You're just so nice."

The silveret let out a hearty laugh. "I've been told that before." He then looked around the kitchen before meeting her eyes again. "Did you clean the entire kitchen by yourself?"

"Not entirely." She replied. "I cleaned the counters and the island while Sora took care of the dishes."

"When you say that 'Sora took care of the dishes', do you mean he put them in the dishwasher?" Riku asked with skeptical look. "Because knowing him, I seriously doubt that he'd wash any dish by hand."

"Again, you're such a nice friend." Naminé tried her hardest to look displeased but found it hard as a smile was fighting its way to her lips.

"Where did he go?" Riku looked over by the archway leading to the dining room before he rolled his eyes. "Wait, I already know the answer. He's with Kairi."

"Of course." Naminé giggled.

The two walked to the archway and looked over by the dining table where Sora, Kairi and Roxas stood. The three of them were sitting down and laughing at something Sora had said, as he flailed his arms around. It looked like he had said something embarrassing, his cheeks were a bright scarlet shade and he kept mouthing a lot like a fish out of water. For once, Naminé's attention wasn't drawn to Roxas, but to Kairi. The lovely redhead leaned into Sora despite her fit of laughter. Sora easily wrapped his arms around her.

The two of them were like pieces of a puzzle, made specifically to fit with one another. Naminé was happy for them, truly she was. But in the pit of her stomach, a bit of jealousy began to grow. She watched as Kairi got up from her seat and boldly sat down on Sora's lap, something that made his cheeks turn a shade of red so dark, it looked almost matched Kairi's hair. Roxas said something with a rather suggestive look on his face that made Sora's eyes widen and for Kairi to burst out in laughter again. Naminé watched as Kairi's laughter subsided and she then kissed Sora's cheek.

_I wish I could do something like that…but not hidden behind closed doors or in men's garb. I want to hold Roxas freely, to hold his hand whenever I want, to kiss his cheeks without a worry. _

Naminé looked away from the three and began to walk away. She walked across the kitchen and into the living room. She noticed that a certain raven haired girl wasn't around and turned around to find that Riku had followed her.

"Where's Xion?" Naminé asked him.

"She looked a bit sleepy, so I told her that she could go take a nap in my room." He replied. "I'm assuming that she's there."

"Ah." Naminé looked over to the stair case and smiled. _I bet Xion must be very happy. _

"Is…something wrong?" Riku's voice wad thick with concern.

Naminé looked at him momentarily before she decided to walk over to the parlor, fully aware that Riku was following her. Naminé sat down on the crescent-shaped built in window seat and took one of the pillows nearby. She placed the pillow in the small window frame and leaned against it. Riku sat next to her and leaned against another pillow, waiting for her to speak.

"I envy Kairi." She sighed.

"Why?" he asked concernedly.

"Because she doesn't have to hide who she is." Naminé replied dismally. "She doesn't have to disguise herself, or pretend that she's a guy. She can just…"

"Just what?" he asked in a low voice.

Naminé tightened her grip on the pillow and sighed heavily. "She can just…be with Sora freely."

There was silence for a few moments while Naminé kept her gaze focused on the front yard. She could feel Riku shifting in his place before he finally spoke.

"Is…there someone…that you want to be with, Naminé?" his soothing voice carried a mixture of dread and hopefulness in it as he said that.

A quick image of Roxas's handsome face flashed in her mind, giving her a crooked smile that she was increasingly becoming fond of. "Not necessarily, I mean in the event that I did meet someone…"

Riku chuckled. "Naminé, having a crush on someone isn't something to be ashamed of."

"I'm not ashamed." Naminé insisted. She looked over at him and saw that he was giving her a very skeptical look.

"So you _do_ like someone?" Riku smirked.

"I…" Naminé had fumbled in her wording and now he had caught her.

"Do I know him?" Riku asked cheekily. "You can tell me, I know how to keep secrets."

Naminé mouthed silently, not sure of what to reply. Sora's words began to playing inside her hear once again.

"_I'd hate to see how Roxas and Riku would treat each other if they ever fell in love with the same girl."_

_This wouldn't be a problem if Riku wasn't interested in me…wait, if Riku falls for Xion then everything will be solved! And anyways, I did promise Xion that I'd ask him!_

"Um…Riku?"

"Yes?"

Naminé's cheeks began to heat up a bit. "What…kind of girls do you like?"

Riku leaned forward with a pleased look on his face. "Before I answer, why do you want to know?"

"Just curious, that's all." She smiled sweetly. Something she instantly regretted doing because his smile grew. And that sent off warning alarms in her head.

"Well, I like girls who are comfortable in their own skin." He said proudly. "I like them a bit on the playful side, intelligent and charming of course. I like girls who are able to stand on their own, but never too proud to acknowledge that they need a man's help. And I don't mean that in a stereotypical macho way."

"Are there any particular physical traits that attract you?" she asked thoughtfully. "Like hair color, height, or weight?"

Riku smirked playfully. "Not really. Now, I'm not gonna lie and say that looks aren't important, because…well, they are. I just don't have a particular preference. I also don't go for stupid things like breast or hip size. Like I said, just as long as she's comfortable being herself around me, then everything's good."

Naminé took in his words and made sure to remember every detail so that she could tell Xion later. "Okay, thanks Riku!"

She sat up straight and placed the pillow where it had originally been, and then she stood up.

"Naminé?"

"Yes?"

"You're comfortable being around me, right?" he asked in a soft voice.

Naminé smiled warmly. "Why wouldn't I be?"

Riku returned her smile and was about to say something when he looked over at the window, his brows furrowing momentarily.

"What is it?" she asked him.

"Aqua and Vayne are back." He answered as he stood up. She watched him walk over to the front door as she turned around to walk back to the living room, intending to tell the others. She turned a corner to walk into the kitchen when she slammed into something.

"Oh sorry!" Roxas said earnestly. "I wasn't paying attention, I'm sorry Naminé."

Naminé shook her head and smiled sweetly at him. "It's okay, I wasn't paying attention either."

"I heard the outside gate opening and came to see what it was." He said as he took her in his arms.

"Funny, I was about to go tell you guys that Aqua and Vayne are back." She giggled.

"I figured as much." He chuckled. He then looked down at her and then pressed his forehead against hers. "You know what I wanna do?"

"What?" she whispered, her lashes fluttering due to the proximity of his handsome face.

"I wanna run up to my room and lay down on my bed." He sighed blithely. "But I want you there with me, in my arms…"

And she wanted nothing more than the very same. She could feel how his arms deepened the embrace; their bodies were getting so close to each other that it seemed like they were blending into each other. Her breathing became heavier and a strange heat began to develop, but unlike the heat in her cheeks that she was used to, this heat came from below her bellybutton. Her hands gripped his shirt so tightly, it was starting to hurt. And despite that, her attention was being drawn to that strange heat…it felt stronger the more she focused on it, and for some reason, her thighs began to press against her femininity.

The right side of his face was slowly rubbing against her left side, his lips ghosting over her jaw line, his breath washing over her neck, causing her skin to erupt in goosebumps. One of his hands moved down her entire back and stopped right above her derriere.

_What's happening to me? My whole body feels strangely warm…_

"Naminé…" he breathed.

Much to her surprise and absolute joy, he began trailing kisses along the side of her neck. The strange heat had now burst into a full flame that spread throughout her. The fire only intensified when he licked a pulsing vein.

_This fire…why do I like it so much? Why do I want more of it…? More of Roxas?_

"Roxas…" she gasped. "Roxas…"

It dawned on her that the more she said his name the more he kissed and licked her neck. His other hand moved to the back of her head and gave her short hairs a slight, painless tug.

"Roxas…" she whispered in a voice that sounded rather seductive.

"Naminé." He said huskily.

"Roxas!"

The two of them immediately sprang apart. Naminé covered her mouth when her eyes found Kairi looking at them with accusatory eyes.

"Hey Kairi…" Roxas said in a strained voice. "Aqua and Vayne are here."

"Right." Kairi said emotionlessly. "I would ask if either of you have seen Xion, but I highly doubt it."

"She's upstairs sleeping." Naminé replied quietly. "In Riku's room."

Both Roxas and Kairi blinked confusedly at this.

"Riku told her to go upstairs and rest." Naminé explained. "He said she could sleep in his room and I guess that's where she's at."

"And where is Riku?" Kairi asked suspiciously.

"He went outside to go open the front gate." Naminé answered.

"Where's Sora?" Roxas asked offhandedly.

Kairi gave him a heated glare, but kept her voice steady. "He's in the kitchen getting some chips."

And right on cue, Sora walked out of the kitchen holding square-shaped plastic container full of Hot Cheetos. He stopped in his track and held out the container to the other three.

"U ays waff sum?" he said with his mouth full, causing both girls to snigger while Roxas rolled his eyes.

"No thanks." Kairi smiled. "I gotta go wake up Xion."

With that, she gave Roxas and Naminé a piercing look before she walked past Sora and headed upstairs.

The front door behind opened and they all turned around. Riku walked in first, but waited behind the door until Aqua and Vayne had walked in before he shut the door closed behind them. Naminé noticed how Vayne was holding a small plastic bag in his left hand.

"Where are the girls?" Aqua asked. Her question wasn't directed at anyone in particular, but she was still expecting an answer.

"They're upstairs." Roxas replied. "They'll be right back down."

Aqua merely nodded. The svelte bluenette walked past all of them and entered the living room, where she placed her purse down on the love seat. Without saying a word, the rest of them followed her. Vayne handed Aqua the plastic bag he had been carrying and she smiled at him.

"Is that the ointment?" Sora asked.

"The very same." Aqua smiled. She pulled out a large rectangular-shaped box; it had a green flower right in the center with the word Curaga in green letters beside it. "The girls' grandma, Michiko, swears by it."

"What did you tell her?"

Kairi and Xion were walking down the stairs side-by-side. Kairi had a slight look of apprehension while Xion looked both tired and anxious.

Aqua gave the two sisters a disapproving look. "I told her that you girls had one too many drinks and fell down the stairs, injuring your lovely faces."

Xion suddenly looked more awake. "Did you have to tell her that?"

"Now she's gonna think we have drinking problems…" Kairi muttered.

"It was the only thing that I could think of that made sense." Aqua replied seriously. "Unless of course, you're willing to tell her the truth…"

The siblings looked at one another. It was clear that they wanted to leave their grandmother out of the mess. And Naminé couldn't blame them.

"She did say that she'd give you both a sound lecture." Aqua had the slightest hint of a smile on her beautiful face as she said that.

"Oh great." The two sisters groaned simultaneously.

There was scattered laughter around the room as Aqua pulled out the actual ointment out of the box. "Now, both your grandma and the box say that this will heal up any fresh cuts in a day."

"So does that mean that the wounds will be closed by tomorrow?" Naminé rasped.

"I'm not too sure." Aqua replied honestly. "But I do trust Grandma Michiko's word wholeheartedly. So, who wants to go first?"

One by one, the five injured youths had the mint-scented ointment dabbed on their wounds. It stung a little at first, but the mint properties left a cool feel that made the pain a fleeting sensation. By the time Aqua had finished applying the toothpaste-looking ointment on Naminé, the petite blonde walked over to Xion as the raven haired girl was examining her doll-like face on a wall mirror at the foot of the stairs. Xion saw Naminé approaching her in the reflection and turned to face Naminé.

"I spoke with Riku earlier." Naminé proudly whispered. "I asked about his ideal girl."

Xion's cheeks turned a rosy tint. "What did he say?"

"He mostly emphasized that he wants a girls who's comfortable being herself around him." Naminé replied.

"Anything else?" Xion asked hopefully.

"He said that he's not picky about hair color, weight and height." Naminé answered. "He also said that he wants a girl who's playful, intelligent, independent, but not proud and charming."

"Figures." Xion sighed. "I don't think I meet any of those requirements."

Xion looked at Naminé before she shook her head wearily and gave a bitter laugh.

"What's wrong, Xion?" Naminé asked softly.

"Who am I kidding?" grumbled the brunette as she walked towards the kitchen. "There is no way that a guy like him would ever consider a girl like me."

"You shouldn't put yourself down like that Xion."

Both girls jumped at the sound of Riku's approaching voice. Xion's ocean colored eyes widened and Naminé noticed that Riku was giving Xion a disapproving look.

"You never know what a guy is really thinking about you." He said sincerely.

"I guess…" Xion mumbled, her cheeks turning a crimson shade.

An idea suddenly popped in Naminé's mind. "Riku, do you think that Xion would make a good girlfriend?"

Xion turned to look at Naminé with a panicked expression, but Naminé simply smiled serenely.

"Sure." Riku smiled. He moved closer to Xion and ruffled her ebony tresses. "I don't know you that much, but you certainly seem like a girl I'd date."

Naminé tried her hardest to hold in a beaming grin, her cerulean orbs glowing as she awaited Xion's reaction.

"Y-you would?" the brunette's voice then dropped a bit before saying, "Or are you just saying that?"

Both Naminé and Riku frowned at her.

"I mean it, Xion." Riku said seriously. "You're a very cute, strong person. It wouldn't be that hard for any guy, not just me, to fall for you. If there's one thing that _all _guys want in a girl, it's for her to be confident. Now, I know that that's easier said than done, but it's a definite must on _any_ guy's list."

_Is that true for Roxas as well? I'm not too sure that I'm a confident person…at least I haven't been since I began to take my brother's place. I need to be me again…somehow. _

"From now on, Xion, I better not hear you putting yourself down." Riku gave Xion a small smile.

"I'll try." Xion said softly. "Thank you, Riku."

"So, who's the lucky guy you set your eyes on?" Riku smiled.

Xion's cheeks burned brighter and Naminé felt that that was her cue to leave the two alone. She walked a few steps backward when a hand landed on her shoulder, making her jump.

"Easy, Snow." Roxas chuckled. "You're a really jumpy guy."

Naminé looked up at him and her eyes immediately locked with his. If Riku and Xion hadn't been nearby, Naminé would have buried herself in Roxas's arms. And she knew, from the soft yet intense look in his sky colored orbs that he too, wanted the same.

Roxas broke eye contact with Naminé and looked over at Xion. "Whoa, why do you look like you have a fever?"

"N-no reason." Xion replied quickly.

"Right." Roxas snickered. "Anyways, anyone want some ice cream?"

He was clearly referring to the two girls, seeing as the only flavor they had was sea salt, Riku's least favorite. Naminé felt bad for Riku.

"I sure as hell do!" Xion smiled. "I can already taste that sweet and salty treat."

"I'd like one." Naminé rasped. She looked over at Riku and noticed the utter look of disgust on his chiseled face.

"Okay, I'll be right back." Roxas smiled.

"I'll go with you." Naminé said, a blush spreading in her cheeks. Roxas smiled at her and the two blonds began walking away towards the kitchen.

* * *

><p>"Wait, what about Riku?" Naminé asked as they entered the kitchen.<p>

"He hates sea salt ice cream." Roxas said. "And sadly for him, this is the only flavor we currently have."

"But we still have chips, right?" she asked thoughtfully.

Roxas shrugged. "Unless they all ended in Sora's bottomless pit for a stomach, we should."

Naminé looked over at the pantry doors and then back at Roxas.

"So what was going on with Xion back there?" Roxas asked he neared the fridge.

Naminé had stopped right in front of the kitchen island with her eyes back on the pantry doors. "Oh, Xion was claiming that a guy like Riku would never like a girl like her. Right as he appeared. Although he didn't hear her saying his name, but he still reprimanded her."

Roxas watched as Naminé walked inside the pantry and then she walked back out with half a bag of lemon flavored chips while Roxas was pulling out all three ice cream bars.

"So she _does_ like him." Roxas muttered as he closed the freezer door.

"Well, she says she doesn't quite know herself." Naminé murmured. "Xion says that she isn't sure of what she feels since she barely knows him."

"How do you not know if you like someone?" Roxas asked as he walked over to the kitchen island. He placed the three bars on the island counter as she placed the bag of chips right next to the ice cream bars. "I certainly how I feel."

Naminé looked at him with tender eyes, before she hugged him. He was more than elated at this and quickly returned the embrace. His cheek rested on the top of her head as his finger combed through her silky, sun kissed hair.

"How do you feel Roxas?" she asked timidly.

"Isn't it obvious?" he smiled. He looked down at her with a gentle, loving look.

Naminé's pink lips parted and she nervously licked her lips. This small involuntary action began to ignite a heat within Roxas, a heat that was all too familiar. A heat that he had known since his pubescent years, one that mostly manifested at night, when he was under the blankets.

A heat that would become a scorching flame that would engulf him, as it had done little over an hour ago.

_**You might want to stop now before this gets worse.  
><strong>__Or someone walks in on us again.  
><em>_**That too. **_

Their eyes locked together, sky and cerulean…he could see that passion in her eyes, the same that he had seen an hour ago. Roxas couldn't help his movements as he leaned closer to her lips. "Naminé…"

"Roxas! Naminé!"

The two jumped away from each other so fast that Roxas managed to slam his hand on the border of the island's counter top. Naminé had lost her footing and fell on her bottom. Despite the pain in his right hand, Roxas helped Naminé get to her feet. His eyes then looked over at kitchen doorway and his eyes widened in panic.

"What is going on here?" Aqua hissed, her crystalline eyes zooming back and forth from Roxas to Naminé, looking upset and confused at the same time.

"Aqua, I can explain." Roxas said breathlessly.

"You better start." Aqua said crossly as she neared them.

_I'll have to tell her the truth, there's nothing else I can say._

"I know Naminé's secret." He breathed shakily. "I found out last Wednesday."

"Have you told anyone else?" Aqua stood right in front of them with a thunderous look. Even though she was a little taller than him, Roxas felt like Aqua towered over him.

"No, I promised Naminé that I'd keep her secret." Roxas replied.

"In exchange for what?" Aqua asked acidly. "Sex? Money?"

"I would never do something like that!" Roxas said earnestly. He kept steady eye contact with the tall bluenette.

"Explain to me what I just saw." Aqua fumed.

Roxas reached for Naminé's hand and he looked at her. _This wasn't exactly how I would've liked to have told her how I felt for her. Not at least until I was sure how she feels for me.  
><em>_**Seriously? And you're the one asking her if it isn't obvious how you feel?**_

At that thought, Roxas reached for her other hand. His heart began to beat erratically, his eyes focusing on the beautiful girl that had captured his heart in just mere days.

"I…"

"Roxas!"

This time it wasn't just Roxas and Naminé that jumped, but Aqua too. Roxas released Naminé's hands as Sora ran into the kitchen with his trademark 1000 watt smile.

"Vayne says he's never played video games!" Sora said excitedly. "So Riku and I are gonna play Brawl with him! You wanna join us?"

Roxas briefly looked at Aqua; she was looking right back at him with a disappointed expression.

"Come on Rox!" Sora pulled Roxas forward. The two cousins had reached the doorway when Aqua spoke.

"Roxas." The serious tone of her voice sent chills down his spine. "I'd like to continue this conversation later on, if you don't mind."

Roxas looked at Aqua and nodded. He watched as Aqua gave Naminé a reproachful look before she walked in the direction of the dining room, leaving Naminé behind with a fearful expression. Roxas wanted to go back to Naminé but Sora pulled him forward again.

"What were you guys talking about in there, anyway?" Sora asked as they stepped into the living room.

Riku and Vayne sat down on the beanbags, the redheaded chauffer looked incredibly apprehensive.

"Nothing." Roxas hastily replied.

Sora let go of Roxas's arm and turned to look at the blond with a raised eyebrow. "I may not know Aqua for as long as Kairi and Xion have, but she sounded like she was really pissed."

"It's not a big deal Sora, so just drop it." Roxas hissed in aggravation.

"Just because my face doesn't help me, it doesn't mean I'm stupid." Sora said curtly. He looked genuinely offended, his nostrils flared with ever sharp breath he took.

"Are you guys playing or what?" Riku asked lazily.

Sora grabbed his orange GameCube controller, then walked over to the leather couch and sat down. Roxas grabbed his silver GameCube controller and sat down on the floor close to Vayne.

"Did you give Xion her ice cream?" Riku asked Roxas.

"Crap!" Roxas hissed. "I left the ice cream bars on the island!"

Roxas immediately shot upwards and began running towards the kitchen when he saw Naminé walking in his direction. She was holding a large bag of Doritos and a big white bowl with four ice cream bars in it.

"Need a hand Snow?" Riku asked kindly. Roxas narrowed his eyes at the silveret.

"It's okay, I got it." Naminé rasped. She held out the bowl for Roxas and smiled. "Go ahead and grab your ice cream."

Roxas blinked momentarily before taking a bar.

"I had to get new bars, 'cause the ones you had left out were starting to melt on the counter." She smiled sweetly. She then held out the Doritos bag for Riku to take. "I got these for you, Riku. I know how you don't like sea salt ice cream."

Riku took the bag and gave Naminé what Roxas considered the stupidest smile ever. "Thank you Snow."

_Fucking Riku, you better wipe that damn smile off your face before I do it for you. _

Roxas watched as Naminé smiled back at Riku before she gave Sora his own bar and then asked Vayne if he wanted an ice cream bar. Surprisingly, the redhead wasn't a fan of sea salt ice cream and he kindly declined Naminé's offer. Even more surprising was that Riku offered chips to Vayne, which he did accept.

Roxas looked over by the staircase as both Kairi and Xion were walking down. Kairi had clearly taken a shower; her hair was obviously damp, but her face looked brighter and she wasn't wearing her formal dress anymore. Much like Xion and Naminé, Kairi was dressed in men's clothing; she had cargo shorts and a t-shirt that looked way too big for her, the clothes were probably Naminé's. But that wasn't what was drawing his attention to them, it was their expressions.

Both sisters looked at him with very solemnly. Kairi walked into the kitchen and disappeared from his sight, while Xion walked up to him.

"Aqua wants to talk to you." Xion whispered gravely. "She's out by the pool area."

Roxas nodded and turned to look over at the guys. "I'm not gonna play this round. Sorry Vayne."

"It's fine." Vayne amiably replied.

Roxas avoided eye contact with Naminé, but he knew that she would look worried. Roxas left the living room and made his way to the patio. As he neared the glass sliding door, he could see both Kairi and Aqua talking to each other. Neither looked amused, and it was quite clear to guess that the crimson haired girl was talking about what she had walked into an hour ago.

He put his hand up to his forehead to shield away the sun's harsh rays as he stepped out. He was about to close the sliding glass door when he saw Xion walking towards him. The women had cornered him and there was much that needed to be said.

* * *

><p><strong>I mentioned in the last chapter that I was going to skip some days after this chapter. But since I fucked up in the last chapter, I'm not going to skip too many days...actually, it'll only be one. Also, it's been brought to my attention that the time that Naminé has been with the guys feels like months. It's actually about to be a week guys. <strong>

**I know, I suck for not making things clearer. So right now, in the story we're on a Saturday. I'm skipping Sunday, so next update will be taking place in a Monday! Hope this helps, and please don't forget to leave a review! **


	14. Enjoy The Silence

**I know I had said in the previous chapter that I was gonna update in July and I didn't. Honestly, I didn't think that I had it in me to post this. I lost someone very dear to me and it's been so hard. He was my biggest supporter; he was the reason why I even posted the very first chapter. But I promised him that I'd continue, for he wanted to see the end of this story. He had been begging me for months to write a story specifically for him, and I shall honor that wish. He wanted a RokuNamiVen story and I will comply. I'm sorry to say that as a result of honoring his wishes, this story will take a backseat. Please forgive me, dear readers. **

**I do not own Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy or Disney. **

* * *

><p><strong>Enjoy The Silence<strong>

**Monday, May 25**

The sky outside was a bit too clouded for her liking. Naminé was much more fond of clear blue skies, but what could she do? She certainly couldn't control the weather. She let out a sigh as she looked away from her window and walked over to her dresser. She looked into the mirror and examined her face more closely.

As it turned out, Curaga was quite effective after all. The cut on her cupid's bow had completely closed and a small scar was left in its place. The gash on her forehead was complete gone, as it if had never been there. The bruise under her left eye was also a bit smaller, it didn't look as purple as before but it was still rather noticeable. Naminé wished that she had bought some makeup; at least that way she could cover up the bruise on her own. She walked away from her dresser and made her way towards her door, only quickly glancing over at her nightstand to look at her digital clock to see the time.

_6:45am…at least I got a good night's sleep. _

She left her room and closed her door; her eyes fell on Roxas's door across the hall. He should have been awake at this point since they had to be at the company offices before 7:30am. She considered knocking on his door, but there was a big chance that he was in the shower or something. So instead, Naminé made her way down the stairs and walked into the living room. Naminé could hear shuffling noises coming from upstairs, a clear indication that the other house occupants were awake.

Naminé giggled. _I could swear that women were the ones who take long to get ready, not men. _

She looked over at the home theater furniture set, specifically at the Wii. She seriously considered playing that one fighting game, even if she didn't know squat about the gameplay. Besides, all she had to do was senselessly beat the living daylights out of her opponents by randomly pressing buttons. How hard could it be?

Naminé walked over to the home theater set, she looked at one of the shelves with all the Wii games alphabetically organized. She giggled at that, it was safe to assume that Sora was the one responsible for their order. Her cerulean orbs scanned the boxes and it wasn't long until she found what she was looking for. She carefully pulled out the box and marveled at it.

"Isn't it a bit early to be playing video games?" asked a smooth voice.

Naminé didn't even have to look over at the staircase to know who was speaking to her. "Good morning, Riku." She said pleasantly. "I'm not too sure if I do actually want to play, but since you guys are the ones taking so long…"

Riku chuckled. "Good point."

She could hear him approaching her so he finally looked up at him. He was wearing a forest green long sleeved shirt that was rather skin-tight. Other than that, the shirt brought out the vibrant hues of his own viridian orbs. She was about to look away when she noticed that his faded dark grey jeans were also awfully rather form-fitting, especially around his crotch area. She quickly tore her eyes away before he could notice where she had been looking…while also trying to hide her heated cheeks.

"Is Vayne here yet?" Riku asked.

"I haven't checked yet." Naminé replied. "But I don't hear any car honks."

"There won't be any." Riku said. "Don't you remember that the gate will open automatically now? Vayne installed the system on Saturday night."

"Oh." Naminé couldn't quite recall when that had happened. She had spent most of the day playing Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess with Riku and Sora. Not to mention that she couldn't stop worrying about Roxas; the blond had walked outside to the pool area and spent over an hour talking with Aqua, Kairi, and Xion. What the conversation had been about was a complete mystery to her, for neither the three girls nor Roxas had said anything.

But there was a very noticeable change in Roxas. Before the four of them had stepped out, he had been very romantic with her. He had held her, kissed her, and was even quite forward with her. But after Saturday afternoon…he barely even looked at her. He didn't talk to her, it seemed like he went out of his way to ignore her. Naminé had attempted to talk to him multiple times throughout all of Sunday, but he spent most of his day locked up in his room.

"Naminé? Are you awake?" Riku sounded concerned.

She shook her head and then turned to smile at him. "Yeah, I just blanked out for a bit." Naminé placed the game back on the shelf and looked over at the staircase. "Think I'll go get my sketchbook and draw instead."

There was a small smile on his chiseled face. "You got a sketchbook?"

Naminé beamed. "Yup, Roxas gave it to me as a gift last Thursday."

Riku's expression changed instantly. "He did?"

Naminé nodded, though her smile was fading the more his expression darkened.

"Did he give it to you personally?" his voice sounded deeper than normal.

"No." Naminé replied. "After we got back from the company offices that day, I fell asleep and when I woke up, I found my sketchbook and a pencil case on my desk."

"So how do you know it's from him?" Riku asked curtly.

_Why is he giving me this attitude? _

"Because he and I had talked about his…illegible penmanship earlier that day and inside my sketchbook there was a note that said 'I practiced'." She said in a steady tone.

"And that means it's from Roxas how…?" His emerald orbs seemed to be burning into hers.

"He promised that he'd practice writing better." She said. Naminé was finding it a bit difficult to keep her voice strong when he kept giving her such an accusatory look. "He smiled at me when I showed him the note."

"He confirmed it?" Riku hissed. "He actually said it was from him?"

"Of course he did!" Naminé said incredulously. "He bought it for me!"

She didn't like his sudden hostility; she knew that Riku liked her, but it wasn't her or Roxas's fault that Roxas was thoughtful enough to buy her a sketchbook and pencil case. Riku certainly didn't like it, but it didn't mean that he had to yell at her for it.

There was a loud clinking noise coming from outside the house and that immediately drew both Naminé and Riku's attention.

"Vayne's here." Riku muttered.

Not wanting to remain in the same place and deal with Riku's jealousy, Naminé walked away from him. She made her way to the front door, trying her hardest to push away the last few minutes out of her mind. Taking a step outside, Naminé was more than relieved to inhale fresh air. Since the sky was so cloudy, Naminé could easily see the shiny black Cadillac Escalade driving up to the house. She glanced back at the gate to make sure that it would automatically close, which it did.

From inside the vehicle the merry-looking redheaded chauffer waved at her, a gesture she immediately returned. "Good morning, Vayne." She rasped.

"Good morning Snow." Vayne smiled pleasantly at her. "Still got that throat infection?"

Naminé gave him a weak smile. "Y-yeah, it just won't go away."

"Hmm." Vayne's brows creased in a thoughtful manner. "Have you been taking any type of medication?"

"You mean like cough syrup?" she asked.

"Yeah." Vayne smiled. "I know a really good brand that works wonders on any type of larynx maladies. It's called Esuna."

"I'll look for it next time we go grocery shopping." Naminé rasped sweetly.

Vayne's burnt sienna colored eyes left her and focused on something behind her. Naminé turned around to find that her three house mates were walking towards the door. Much like her own face, both Sora and Roxas's face were cut free. She couldn't even tell if the cuts had left any scaring, which it probably would, but other than the faint bruises on their faces, they looked normal.

"I call shotgun!" Sora boomed. He moved Roxas out of his way, nearly slamming his cousin straight into the door frame before he ran past Riku.

The blond blinked rapidly a few times before he turned to glare at the energetic brunet. "Dammit Sora, watch where you're going!"

Sora didn't reply verbally, rather he hopped into the car and gave Roxas a big, toothy grin. This made Riku shake his head while Naminé suppressed her laughter.

"Is he always like that in the mornings?" Vayne chuckled.

"Sadly, he is." Riku answered. "…most of the time."

"It's way too fucking early for this shit." Roxas grumbled.

_He looks so exhausted; he probably didn't get much sleep last night. _

Naminé wanted to ask Roxas what was wrong, but she could feel Riku's gaze upon her. She followed Roxas as he walked to the left side door, even though Riku wasn't following her and he had walked over to the other side. Roxas opened the car's door and looked at Naminé over his shoulder.

Her initial reaction was to smile at him, but the idea crashed quickly. His eyes looked so devoid of life, his expression unreadable. He looked away from her and got inside the car, but rather than sitting in his usual spot, he sat down at the back seat, where she normally sat. He then fished his iPod out of his jeans and put on his earphones. Naminé entered the vehicle, closed the door behind her and sat down in one of the middle seats, Roxas's usual seat.

_Is he okay? _She looked over her seat and saw that Roxas was staring out the window.

_Does he normally behave this way when he's tired?_

The sound of a door closing made her look up; Riku had sat down in Sora's usual seat. He looked at her, then at Roxas and then he turned his gaze to the front.

"Everyone all buckled up?" Vayne asked in a cheery voice.

There was a collective sound of seatbelt buckles clicking at that.

As the ride to the company offices went, Naminé couldn't help but let her thoughts be filled with Roxas. She wanted to talk to him; she wanted to know if something was bothering him, maybe there was something she could do or say that would cheer him up.

She recalled how he had looked when he had come into the house after his talk with Aqua, Kairi and Xion. Roxas had looked annoyed, angry, but more than anything…he looked so disconsolate. His beautiful sky orbs had such a mournful glow to them. She had wanted to get away from playing Mario Kart, but sadly, Sora had been more than insistent on her playing. Even after Aqua had taken the two sisters back to her apartment after dinner, Roxas had secluded himself in his room. She didn't see much of him for the remainder of Saturday, and she only saw him a few times on Sunday.

_What could Aqua have said to him for him to act like this? Did…she yell at him? She certainly looked upset when she walked in on us in the kitchen._

Naminé then remembered that Kairi had also walked in on them in a much more…compromising state. It was very likely that the redhead had shared her discovery with Aqua and Xion. But hadn't both sisters expressed enthusiasm whenever Naminé mention that she was falling for Roxas? Hadn't Xion offered to be her own matchmaker? Why would they hound Roxas by himself? Why not include her if she, too was involved?

Was it safer to assume that Roxas had seduced her and she didn't have a clue? Naminé might have never felt that delicious heat before in her life, but she had certainly enjoyed it. She had wanted more of it…and if she was being honest with herself, she still did. But beyond his fiery touches, she wanted to hold him. To run her fingers through his windswept golden locks and to kiss him until her lips fell from her face.

The Cadillac came to a halt and Naminé looked out her window; they had arrived at the company offices. But what stood out to Naminé was that Vayne had parked in the back parking lot rather than the front end.

"How come back here, Vayne?" Naminé asked the driver.

"Didn't you see the legion of reporters at the front?" Vayne asked in mild surprise.

Naminé blushed. "No…I wasn't really paying attention."

"It's okay." Vayne smiled.

"I think the bigger question is WHY there were so many reporters." Sora said.

Vayne chuckled. "To get a picture of you guys!"

"But why?" Sora asked confusedly.

"Haven't you guys been watching the news?" Vayne asked incredulously.

"We don't really turn on the TV unless we're gonna play video games or watching a movie on the Blue-Ray." Riku answered.

"Ah, I see." Vayne smiled. "Well you might want to take a look-see. You guys are being called the most anticipated band since Final Fantasy!"

"What?"

Naminé looked at the back seat and saw that Roxas had removed one of his earphones and was now giving Vayne his undivided attention. "Are you serious?"

"Very much so." Vayne beamed at Roxas. "Not even The Organization had this much hype."

There was absolute silence in the car for a few minutes until Vayne broke it by chuckling. He shook his head at the quartet's baffled expressions before he opened his door.

"Anyways, you guys should get going!" he said as he leapt out of the vehicle.

Riku was the very first to react and opened his door before Sora and Naminé did the very same. After all four members had gotten out of the car they followed Vayne inside the building, going past the security guard offices until they made it to the lobby.

Naminé noticed that not many people turned to look at them, something that made her feel quite relieved. She was worried that the faint bruises that she, Roxas and Sora had on their faces would have to be explained to entire staff. She had been so caught up in looking to see if any employee had been looking at them that she didn't notice Terra approaching them until he spoke.

"You're all looking better." The tall brunet smiled. "I'm definitely going to personally thank Kairi and Xion's grandma for recommending Curaga."

"Are the girls here?" Sora asked.

Terra nodded. "They're waiting for you guys in your dressing room."

"Cool!" Sora beamed and he instantly began to walk away, heading in the direction of the first floor staircase.

"Are you coming with us?" Riku asked Terra.

"No, I have other things to do." Terra huffed. "I'm waiting for someone to show up."

Naminé could tell that whoever it was that Terra was waiting for wasn't a welcomed guest. Terra's voice and expression clearly indicated great dislike. He walked away from them, taking Vayne with him, leaving Roxas, Naminé and Riku behind.

"We should get going…" she murmured.

Roxas was the very first to walk away towards the first floor staircase. Naminé watched him with a torn expression; she wanted to talk to him but he seemed so unapproachable. What could she say to him? What words or actions could she offer him to get him to speak to her? She shook her head and moved forward, with Riku trailing behind her.

Naminé knew that the use of makeup could do wonders on anyone, but she had underestimated its power. When she had walked in to their dressing room she quickly had spotted both sisters chatting about merrily with Sora. They both looked absolutely flawless; it was as if Vanitas had never laid a finger on them, no one could guess that these two beautiful girls had encountered such an abusive beast. And then Naminé noticed another woman in the room. Her hair was pinned up in an elegant braided bun, with four long braids falling past her waist. The obsidian shade of her hair brought out the porcelain hues of her skin tone, her face itself was pure perfection. She was dressed in a form-fitting black dress with a neckline so low cut that her most prominent of womanly gifts were displayed in all their glory.

Naminé had never known that such dresses could exist, but here was this beautiful woman wearing one. It took a lot for Naminé to tear her eyes from the ebon haired woman's cleavage, it was just that impressive.

"Guys, don't be rude." Xion said dryly. "You can stop staring at her like that."

Naminé looked around and noticed that both Riku and Roxas looked utterly embarrassed by Xion's comment. Their cheeks were a bright scarlet shade, and both of them were trying to focus on anything else in the room but the buxom woman.

"Sorry about that Lulu." Kairi said apologetically.

"It's quite alright." Lulu said. Her voice was by far the most sensuous thing that Naminé had ever heard out of any woman's mouth ever. "One gets accustomed to it as the years pass. Sadly."

_With a body like hers it seems that being looked at is inevitable. Not to mention that cleavage window…oh who am I kidding? I'd love to have her killer body. _

"Anyways," Kairi smiled. "Lulu here came to do your makeup."

"Um…"Sora said shakily.

"Don't worry, she signed a confidentiality agreement." Xion tittered. "Not that she needed to do that, she's completely trustworthy."

"Thank you Xion." Lulu smiled.

_Goodness, even her smile is attractive. _Naminé looked over at Roxas and to her surprise, their eyes met. He gave her a crooked smile and Naminé quickly smiled back at him.

"Come on then." Xion smiled. She reached out and grabbed Naminé by the hand and led the blonde to her makeup station. The raven haired girl looked up at Lulu and beamed. "Time to work your magic!"

About thirty minutes passed before Lulu was finished applying makeup on all four singers. Naminé had been a bit taken back that not only did her face look fresh, but Lulu had made Naminé's brows thicker and darker. She had also contoured Naminé's face to make her look more masculine, something which not even the makeup ladies from Friday had been able to really do. Lulu had spent most of the time working on Naminé, since all she had to do for the two cousins was conceal their bruises. Lulu did work a little bit on Riku, just enhancing his already perfect face with a few touches here and there.

She also managed to do their hair; well at least Riku and Naminé's hair since neither Sora or Roxas's hair were willing to bend to gravity's rules. Naminé's hair was a bit more centered on her eyes, specifically her left side. This led to covering both the somewhat visible gash on her forehead and a bit under her left eye…even though the bruise had completely disappeared with all the makeup Lulu had used.

"Lulu, you do have a magic touch for beauty." Kairi said in an upbeat tone. "What's your secret?"

Lulu finished working on Sora and looked over at the redhead. "You just have to know what you're doing, that's all."

"Whoa." Sora said in amazement as he examines his reflection. "I don't normally say this, but I look good."

There was laughter around the room as the lively brunet got out of his seat and joined his band mates who were all standing about.

"You're gonna look even better when you put on the clothes we have for you." Xion said encouragingly. She walked past the four of them and into the sitting area. She stood next to the large sofa and it was then that Naminé noticed that there were four plastic-protected ensembles spread across the sofa's three seating cushions.

Xion grabbed one of ensembles and smiled at Naminé. "This one is yours, Snow."

Naminé walked over to the petite brunette and took her clothes by the clothes hanger. She looked at the dark colored plastic covering her outfit for the day and then back at Xion. "Thanks."

"You're welcome." Xion smiled. She then leaned in and whispered into Naminé's ear, "There's something else in there for you. You'll really need it."

Naminé blinked in confusion but Xion ushered her towards the dressing stalls. Once inside, Naminé hung her garments on the wall hook. She removed the plastic and was immediately met with a white undershirt with a note on the center.

**I think this will be better than your binding wrap, it's a compression shirt. I know it sounds kinda painful, but I've been assured it's not. It's certainly less noticeable and it's much more effective. Love, Kai. **

Naminé grabbed the bottom of the undershirt and felt the material; for as thick as it looked, it felt quite thin.

_It feels like nylon and spandex…it feels really nice, actually. _

Once she made sure her door was locked, Naminé removed her long sleeved shirt and placed it on the second wall hook. She then unclipped her binding clip and began to unwrap her chest, her eyes on the compression shirt. She finished unwrapping her chest, letting her breasts free of their confinement. She grabbed the compression shirt and removed it carefully from the clothes hanger and marveled at the garb.

Naminé was about to put it on when a sudden and unexpected noise came from the stall next to her. She froze momentarily as the stall next door closed and was locked. She could hear the tearing of the plastic cover before there was shuffling noises that sounded rather like pants being unzipped.

Regaining her senses, Naminé quickly put on her new compression shirt and realized that it felt much better than the binding wrap. It felt much lighter too, as if she wasn't wearing anything at all. She quickly removed her cargo shorts and put on her mint colored tablet pants. She then removed her copper colored tee that had the words 'Chain of Memories' in white on the center. After she had finished dressing, she grabbed her own clothes and hid her binding wrap between her shirt and shorts. Then she covered it all with the dark plastic and walked out of her stall.

As soon as she had walked out, she heard the other stall door opening. She glanced over her shoulder and saw that it had been Roxas who had been her stall neighbor. He was wearing dark grey slim-fit jeans and dark red ¾ sleeve shirt with the number 'XIII' in black. She looked away and was glad that she did, otherwise she would walked into Xion.

"What do I do with my clothes?" she rasped at the brunette.

Xion took Naminé's bundle of clothes out of the blonde's hands and smiled. "I know where to put them."

Naminé watched as Xion walked over to Kairi with Naminé's clothes in her hands. The raven haired girl then placed Naminé's clothes on top of medium sized armoire in the back of the sitting area and began to unfold Naminé's clothes. Xion then grabbed one of the many clothes hangers and hung Naminé's garments. Xion was about to close the armoire's door when the binding wrap fell onto the floor.

Naminé's heart stopped beating at that moment, but Xion quickly picked it up before tossing the wrap inside the armoire and hastily closing the door. Naminé felt a wave of relief as no one else caught that little mishap; Sora was talking animatedly with Kairi, while Riku was lounging about in front of the makeup station. Naminé decided to go sit down on the love seat while Roxas walked over to Xion.

"Hey Xion." He called to her. "What's with today's getup?"

"We can't have you guys looking unkempt for your very fist personal interview." She replied gleefully.

"We have an interview today?" Naminé rasped worriedly.

"I don't blame you for forgetting." Xion said sympathetically. "Just about anyone forgets when they're going to be interviewed by the 'Chilly Academic'."

"Well, at least Axel certainly loves to forget." Kairi giggled. The red head walked over to the seating area with both Sora and Riku in tow.

"Who are you talking about?" Sora asked as he sat next to Naminé.

"Do you remember that really pompous guy from the Q&A panel on Friday?" Roxas said as he sat down on the single seat couch.

"Oh you mean the guy in that weird lab coat?" Naminé rasped.

Roxas nodded, but his eyes were not focused on her. "Yup, that guy."

"Oh great, that creep." Sora muttered.

"Why is he interviewing us first?" Riku asked the two sisters as he sat on the large sofa's armrest.

Kairi made a face that had great dislike written all over it. "Because he and Xemnas are old college buddies, so the Superior lets Vexen have _all_ of the exclusives."

"I get the impression that this man isn't liked." Naminé rasped thoughtfully.

"It's because he talks down to people and act like he's a god among humanity." Xion huffed.

Kairi looked over at Sora and Riku. "You guys should go ahead and change."

The two best friends got their garments from the redhead and then walked over to the dressing stalls. Roxas got out of his seat and began chatting with Xion; his expression changed as he spoke with the petite brunette, he looked less tired. Even his eyes seemed to have a spark of life in them. Naminé looked away, she thought that she had moved past any jealousy over Xion's relationship with Roxas, but this certainly proved she had been wrong.

_Did I do something wrong? He doesn't talk to me and he even avoids eye contact with me! _

Had she genuinely done something to him? Had she said something she shouldn't have? What had happened from Saturday morning to afternoon that caused this cold behavior from him?

"You okay?"

Naminé looked up to see Kairi looking down at her worriedly.

"I think something is wrong…" Naminé said quietly.

Kairi sat down next to Naminé. "Why do you say that?"

Naminé leaned closer to Kairi and whispered, "Because Roxas isn't talking to me anymore."

"He isn't?" Kairi looked incredibly guilty and she sighed.

"What did you, Aqua and Xion say to him on Saturday?" Naminé said in slight desperation.

Kairi faltered; she had opened her mouth to speak but ended up exhaling weakly.

"Please tell me." Naminé urged. "He won't even look at me. What did you three say to him? Did you tell him to leave me alone? What?"

"Nami…" Kairi whispered. "We only asked him to-"

One of the dressing stalls opened and Riku walked out; he was wearing a navy blue crewneck sleeveless shirt with the words 'Darkness' in black letters, embroidered pocket washed skinny jeans and a leather bracelet that looked like two belts glued together. His shirt certainly served a great purpose; to show off his toned arms.

The silveret sat down on the large sofa, since all of the clothes that had been laid out were now being worn. Barely two minutes passed since Riku had sat down when Sora walked out of his dressing stall wearing a yellow sleeveless hoodie with black drawstring waist shorts. Unlike the rest of them, Sora was wearing the crown necklace that Kairi had given to him last Friday.

Kairi stood up from her seat and walked up to Sora with a pleased look on her face. "You look great, I'm definitely going to keep your style like this."

"I have a style now?" Sora grinned.

Kairi poked his stomach. "You better believe it! Forget the adorable part, we're going for hot instead."

Sora's cheeks turned a faint pink shade and kissed her cheek, which caused her own to lighten with a rosy tint.

"Get a room." Riku said pointedly.

"You jealous, Riku?" Kairi said while placing a hand on her hip.

"Burn!" Sora boomed which caused the room to be filled with laughter. The silveret didn't even try to hide his laughter but he did shake his head.

"So, moving away from Sora and Kairi's need for some privacy," Roxas chortled. "When is this weirdo getting here?"

"He's _supposed _to be here at 8am." Xion said heatedly. "But as history has shown us, Mr. I'm-Better-Than-Anyone-Else likes to show up whenever he damn pleases."

"So what are we supposed to do until he gets here?" Roxas asked her.

"I think there's a deck of cards in one of the makeup station drawers." Kairi replied.

"Anyways, we have to get going." Xion said. "Kairi and I have to finalize the details for tomorrow's photoshoot."

"Another one?" Sora frowned. "Didn't we just do one last Tuesday?"

"Sora, I suggest you start becoming fond of photoshoots." Kairi giggled. "Because you're going to be doing a lot of these from now on, trust me."

"Anyways, we'll see you guys later!" Xion smiled. Both sisters waved goodbye as they left the dressing room.

As soon as the door closed behind the two girls, Naminé felt a wave of nerves crash over her. _I wish I'd have brought my sketchbook._

She looked over at Roxas hoping to see his beautiful sky blue eyes and that crooked smile that she adored so much. Their eyes did meet, but only for a few seconds before he looked away. Naminé's desperation grew; her need to know what was wrong was being cultivated with every moment of silence that passed between them. She watched as he got up from his seat and walked over to the four makeup stations, opening the drawers as he looked for something.

"What are you doing, Rox?" Sora asked his cousin.

"I'm looking for that card deck that Kairi mentioned." The blond answered.

Sora walked over to the single seating sofa and sprawled out; his feet hanging from one of the armrests, while his arms covering his face as he let out a loud yawn. Riku was leaning into the cushions of the large sofa, his verdigris orbs fixed upon the ceiling above him.

Naminé closed her eyes; she could hear the opening and closing of the drawers as Roxas continued his search for that card deck. She opened her eyes and looked over at the makeup stations where she could see his reflection on one of the vanity mirrors. His eyes were downcast, his expression lifeless.

_Should I go up to him and just ask him what's wrong?_

She looked back at Sora and Riku; the brunet still had his arms covering his face, while the silveret had now closed his eyes. This was her opportunity to talk to Roxas and get her answers. She looked back at Roxas and much to her surprise his reflected eyes were looking right at her. Her heart began doing somersaults, she was about to smile at him but it died before it formed on her lips. There was pain, regret and bitterness written on his handsome face. Her lips quivered as she felt tears beginning to gather in the corner of her eyes. When his own orbs noticed this, his expression softened a bit.

"_What's wrong?" _ She mouthed. "_Are you okay?"_

"_I'm fine." _He mouthed back.

Naminé was far from convinced, and he could see that, so he gave her a soft smile. But she couldn't return it; she didn't have the heart to return his obviously forced smile. Neither was able to hold each other's gaze and they both ended up looking away. She felt her heart become heavy, the air around her seemed to thicken and her breathing quickened.

"I found it." Roxas announced.

Sora immediately sat up straight in his seat, Riku opened his eyes and gave Naminé a questioning look, for which she shook her head. She must have looked more distressed than she thought, but Riku's attention left her when Roxas neared them.

"So what game are we playing?" Sora asked drowsily.

"Uno." Roxas replied.

"How are we gonna play Uno with a normal deck of cards?" Riku said boorishly.

"I didn't say that this was a normal deck." Roxas said curtly.

He placed a deck of cards that was held together with an elastic band. Naminé saw that the cards had a black background with a red oval and the words UNO in white at the center.

"Holy crap!" Sora immediately grabbed the deck and removed the band. "We haven't played this game since we were little!"

"How do you play Uno?" Naminé rasped.

A slew of cards flew out of Sora's hands when she had spoken. In fact, all three males looked at her in disbelief. This quickly triggered her blush much to her adding embarrassment.

"You seriously don't know how to play Uno?" Riku asked as he leaned forward.

Naminé shook her head.

"Okay, time for Uno 101!" Sora said determinedly. He leaned down to pick up the cards that had flown out of his grasp and then kneeled before the rectangular shaped table in the center of the room. He looked through the cards and picked out a few ones before turning to face Naminé. "The game is really simple; if someone lays down red colored card, you lay down one of the same color."

Naminé noticed how some cards had the same color, but different number. "What if they're not the same number?"

"That only applies if you put down say…a 5 blue." Sora looked uncharacteristically serious as he explained the rules. "Say I don't have a single blue card in my hand, but I do have a 5 green. Since the numbers are the same, I can put down my 5 green card and it's still valid."

"But what if you don't have the same color or number?" Naminé inquired.

"Then you eat from the pile." Riku replied. "You can only have seven cards in your hand when you start. The rest will be in a pile unless they're at play." He grabbed seven cards at random and then put down one which was a 7 red, while the rest of the cards were laid face down on the table. "Let's say that I just played that 7 red and it's Sora's turn. But he doesn't have any reds or sevens, so he has to eat from the down pile until he finds a red or a seven."

"There are a few exceptions." Roxas added, though his eyes avoided her gaze unlike the other two. "If you get a +4 card, you can not only have your opponent eat four cards, you can also change the main card to any number or color you like."

"So a +4 card is like a reset card?" Naminé asked Roxas, hoping that he would look at her.

He didn't. "I guess you can call it that. There are also the skip turn cards."

Sora held up a card that had a circle with a line in the middle. "This is a skip card. You can skip the next person's turn, but only if it's the same color that's at play."

"You know, I think it'll be easier to understand if you play, Snow." Riku smiled.

"I think maybe he should just watch." Roxas said.

Naminé was hurt by his words, the fact that he still hadn't looked at her in the eyes wasn't helping either.

"People learn faster through hands-on practice." Riku insisted.

"I agree." Sora added. "Plus, it'd be mean to leave him out."

"I wasn't trying to be mean." Roxas said defensively. "I just thought it'd be better for Snow to see how we play before he tries playing it."

No one said anything further while Sora shuffled the card deck quite a few times. He then began handing out the cards to each of them.

"Are you even counting, Sora?" Riku smirked.

"I am counting!" Sora said proudly. "…I'm counting on you guys to keep track of how many cards you have."

Riku snorted loudly while Roxas let out a hearty laugh. Naminé immediately covered her mouth so that Sora wouldn't hear her feminine sounding laughter.

After Sora was done passing out the cards, each member counted their cards to make sure they had the right amount. When everything was set, Sora had placed the rest of the cards face down on the table and then grabbed the top card from the pile and flipped it over.

"Okay, we're starting with a 9 yellow." Sora said briskly. "Who's going first?"

"Go Snow." Riku said encouragingly.

Naminé looked down at her hand to see what she had; 0 red, 2 and 4 blue, 7, 8, 9 green and a +4 card. She had both a nine and a +4, she could use either one and it would be valid.

_Maybe I should save my +4 card._

She placed down her 9 green card and smiled.

"Okay good." Sora smiled. "You can pick whatever direction we should play in, clockwise or counter clockwise."

"Oh!" Naminé looked at the guys and debated. If she chose clockwise, Sora would be next, but if she went counter clockwise, Roxas would be next. "You can go next Sora."

"Sweet!" the brunet beamed. He looked at his cards and then placed down a 0 green. "Go Riku."

The silveret looked at his cards and frowned. "I got a crappy hand."

"So I take it you're hungry then?" Sora said smugly.

Naminé wasn't sure what Sora meant. But it quickly dawned on her when Riku started grabbing cards from the down pile.

"Eat piggy, eat!" Sora laughed.

"Holy shit, Riku." Roxas snickered. "How hungry are you? That's like the seventh card you've eaten."

At his eleventh card, Riku smirked. "You look hungry yourself, Roxas."

The silveret placed down a +4 card with a 4 red and Naminé was worried that this would spark a fight between the two.

Much to her own relief, Roxas pursed his lips and shook his head. "Gee Riku, how nice of you to buy me food."

Roxas ate four cards and then at last, looked at Naminé. "It's your turn."

"But you didn't play a card." She said.

"When you get a +4, you don't play a card." Roxas explained. "It's kinda like skipping the turn, except for the eating part."

"Oh okay." Naminé smiled. She looked at her hand and saw her 4 blue, so she placed it down above Riku's 4 red.

Sora's eyes narrowed at her. "You know Snow, I wasn't feeling hungry."

"Star eating Sora!" Roxas laughed. "You're looking rather scrawny these days; you could sure use more meat on those bones."

Sora frowned; he grabbed a card and immediately placed it down. "Nah, I told you I wasn't hungry."

It had been a 3 blue, which was valid. Riku quickly placed down a 3 yellow, which was followed by a 5 yellow from Roxas.

Naminé's jaw dropped, she didn't any fives or yellows. She was gonna have to eat.

"Feeling hungry, Snow?" Roxas smiled. "Why don't I treat you?"

Naminé couldn't help but blush as she began grabbing cards, hoping for something good. On her fourth card, she got a yellow skip card which she immediately played. "Sorry Sora."

"Uh huh…sure you are." Sora said in mock anger. The façade didn't last long and he cracked a smile at her.

Riku then laid down an 8 yellow, which caused Roxas to play an 8 blue. She looked at her hand and saw that her 2 blue had a + symbol on it.

"Does this card count?" she asked as she showed her +2 blue card.

"Yes, it does." Riku said rapidly. "Eat two Sora."

Sora hung his head and grabbed two cards from the pile. Riku then played a 6 blue.

"Goddammit." Roxas muttered as he began grabbing cards.

"Keep eating fatty!" Sora beamed as Roxas was on his eighth card. "Damn, you're really hungry."

"Shush." Roxas hissed. He looked up at Naminé and gave an apologetic smile. "Sorry Snow."

It had been a blue skip card. Naminé shook her head and waited for Sora to lay his card down.

"Man, I wish I had a better hand." Sora sighed as he placed down a green skip card.

Riku gave Sora a dirty look. "Some best friend you are."

Sora gave Riku a big toothy grin while Roxas placed down a 7 green. Naminé placed down her own 7 green as well.

"What's with all the green?" Sora frowned, and then placed a 7 red. "Let's change the color, shall we?"

"Skip a turn Roxas." Riku said amiably, placing down a red skip card.

Roxas puffed up his cheeks and the then let the air out. _ He looks so cute when he does that. _

"Skip a turn Sora." Naminé rasped and placed down a red skip like Riku.

"Boo!" Sora crossed his arms.

"Skip another turn, Roxas." Riku said lightly and played a yellow skip.

This time Roxas narrowed his eyes at the silveret, though he still didn't say anything. Naminé wondered whether Riku was skipping Roxas on purpose.

Naminé looked down at her cards; she had her 0 red, 7 and 8 blue, 8 green and her +4. She really didn't want to use her +4, but either she ate, or Sora ate.

"Sora…" she rasped shyly. "Do you want to eat?"

"NO." Sora said immediately. "I've got a crapload of cards already, thanks."

"Sorry!" and with that she placed her +4 and her 8 blue.

Sora groaned, though it sounded more like he was crying. He took his four cards while Riku and Roxas laughed loudly. Riku played a 9 blue and Roxas 9 red. Naminé was grateful that she had her 0 red and played that card. She realized then that she only had two cards left, and if things went well for her, she could win the game.

Sora placed down a 4 red and then looked at Naminé's cards. "Wait, how does he have two left?"

"Wait, what?" Roxas looked at her and then playfully narrowed his eyes at her. "Oh you're so getting it now."

"Make him eat Roxas!" Sora said eagerly. "Snow looks too skinny anyways! _He's _the one that needs more meat on his bones!"

Naminé had to once again cover her mouth to hide her laughter. Riku placed a 5 red and waited for Roxas. The blond had quite a smug smirk on his face that Naminé found rather attractive.

"Snow…" He said in a merry voice. "Have four cards on me."

Roxas placed his +4 and a 9 yellow. Naminé covered her cheeks with her hands momentarily before she grabbed four cards from the down pile. As she grabbed her fourth card, Naminé realized how small the down pile had gotten. She then looked at her new cards and saw that she had gotten yet another +4 card.

_I still have a chance of winning this! _

"Snow needs to eat more, if you ask me." Sora said mirthfully. He placed down a 6 yellow and gave Naminé a playful smile.

"Only Roxas can make that happen." Riku said as he placed a 0 yellow.

"Yeah no." Roxas murmured, placing down a 4 yellow. "That was the only +4 card that I had."

Naminé beamed at him, which caused Roxas's cheeks to turn faint pink. She placed a 6 yellow card and then looked back at Roxas. This game had somehow managed to break that weirdness around the two of them; honestly it felt like things were back to normal, they could both look at each other just fine.

"Snow, you don't hate me by any chance, do you?" Sora pouted.

"What?" Naminé chuckled. "Of course not, Sora! Why would you say that?"

Sora placed down a 7 yellow card. "I feel like you do. You keep playing cards that don't help me!"

The blonde covered her mouth yet again as another fit of laughter overtook her. She managed to see Riku playing another 7 yellow before Roxas placed a 7 red card.

_Perfect! _

She placed a 9 red and looked over at Sora, who looked half-nervous and half-amused. The energetic brunet beamed and placed a 9 blue, giving her a nod of approval.

"Finally there's a different color." Riku said with zest. He placed down a 5 blue and leaned against the seat cushions.

"Fuck!" Roxas hissed. There was laughter from the other three as Roxas grabbed the cards he needed, which turned out that he didn't need too many. When he looked at his third card, he placed it down which revealed a 7 blue.

Naminé quickly added her own 7 blue, growing more giddy as she only had three more cards left.

"I don't like that look on your face, Snow." Sora said suspiciously while placing a blue skip card. "We need to make him eat!"

"We totally would." Riku agreed. "Except we don't know what his cards are and we don't know if anything we play will aid him rather than hurt him."

"I got something." Roxas said and played a green skip card. "Not that it'll do much."

Naminé gave Roxas a reproachful look with a pout to complete her look. Roxas's shoulders lowered as his eyes widened a bit and his cheeks turned a crimson shade.

"Dammit!" Sora groaned. He didn't need to grab too many cards, as on his second card he got a 5 green and exhaled loudly.

_Keep playing green! Keep playing green!_

But unfortunately, Riku placed a 5 yellow. Naminé tried her hardest to not outwardly show her panic as Roxas looked through his cards. He ended up placing a 5 green much to her joy.

She quickly placed her 8 green and tried to stay calm, because no matter what cards were played, Naminé had this game won. A +4 and a 9 green card, she was happy that she had decided to save her +4 card.

"Snow _really_ needs to eat." Sora narrowed his eyes as he placed an 8 red card. "He's down to two again."

"Crap." Riku muttered and placed a 6 red.

"I wish I had a +4 card." Roxas grumbled and put down a 6 green.

_I won! I won!_

Naminé beamed radiantly. "I won!"

"What?" the three guys said simultaneously.

She placed down her two cards and watched their reactions with absolute joy; Sora leaned against his seat and looked at the ceiling, Riku threw his cards on the table and shook his head disapprovingly, and Roxas rested his head on his left palm with a scowl on his face.

"How did he beat us at our own game?" Sora huffed. He looked over at her with a disbelieving look, and a slight pout.

"We taught him well, I guess." Roxas mumbled. "Good game Snow."

Naminé gave him a loving smile, hoping that he wouldn't revert to his distant behavior from earlier. His expression softened, his eyes were illuminated with tenderness and best of all, Roxas gave her a crooked smile. Her spirits soared, she felt her lungs filling up with what felt like the cleanest of air, and her lips created what she was sure was her best smile.

Their eyes met and everything around him blurred, she had eyes only for him. He reached out his free hand across the table and held his palm open. "Here…"

Naminé beamed at him and quickly reached out for his hand. She clasped their hands together and intertwined their fingers, gazing at their joined hands in a loving manner. She then looked up at his face was a bit surprised to see him giving her a disapproving look.

"I meant the cards." He said pointedly, releasing her hand as if her touch burned his skin.

Naminé looked down at the table and saw that there were several Uno cards in her area. He hadn't meant to hold her hand…

"O-oh." She murmured. She gave him a quick smile and began collecting the stray cards and then she gave them to him. Roxas took them from her and then placed them all together in a stack, before he tied them in place with the elastic band.

"You don't even know if any of us want to play another round." Riku hissed at Roxas.

"No one said anything." Roxas snapped.

"You should have asked anyway." Riku snapped back. "The world doesn't revolve around you, Roxas."

"Guys, don't start." Sora said tiredly, but unfortunately, his comment went unheard by the other two.

"Did you bite your tongue with that statement, Riku?" Roxas said acidly. "I'm pretty sure that that applies to you more than it does to me."

"Does it really?" Riku said crossly. "I guess it would kill you to think of others first."

"Says the guy who acts like everyone else is below him." Roxas fumed.

"Guys, knock it off!" Sora yelled in an irritated tone.

"At least I don't take credit for things other people do." Riku said furiously.

"What?" Roxas hissed. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Oh how convenient of you to forget!" Riku sneered.

"That's enough!" Sora snarled. He got up from his seat and glared at his cousin and his best friend.

"Easy Sora." Roxas said warily.

But before Sora could say anything further, the door opened and Terra walked in looking quite pleased. "Okay guys, interview time!"

"Is that Mad Scientist guy here?" Riku asked, his voice still carrying an edge to it.

"Of course he isn't." Terra said dryly. "So instead of endlessly waiting for that guy, your interview will be conducted by someone else!"

"Who?" Sora asked.

"Oh you'll see." Terra smiled. "Time to go to Grand Hall A."

Naminé stood up from her seat and watched Roxas do the very same. He and Riku exchanged a heated gaze, which was quickly broken by Sora pushing Riku forward. The two best friends followed the older brunet out of the room, leaving Naminé in the room behind with Roxas.

"Naminé." Roxas spoke in an emotionless tone.

"Yes?"

"Do you know what Riku meant?" he asked her in the same tone. "When he said that I took credit for what other people do?"

"No." she replied earnestly.

He gave her a piercing look and then he shook his head. "Let's go."

She watched him leave the room without glancing back at her, not even bothering to see is she was following her. Her heart became heavy; her eyes began watering as tears collected.

_I don't get what's happening; Roxas has never looked at me like that before. I know that I've barely known him for about two weeks, but…_

She sat down on the single couch and sank into the cushions. What had she gotten herself into? When she had decided to take Snow's place, she hadn't intended for anyone to know her identity. Not Riku, not Roxas, not anyone.

She certainly didn't plan on falling in love so unrealistically quickly. She wished she hadn't, but it happened before she knew. And now his silence and indifference was hurting her more than anything else had ever done. But this wasn't the root of her problems, being Snow wasn't what had her in this uncertainty.

_I need to know what Aqua, Kairi and Xion said to Roxas. _

"Naminé?"

She looked up and gave Riku a soft smile. "Hey."

"Aren't you coming?" he asked her concernedly, his eyebrows creasing.

"Yeah." She exhaled shakily.

"Is something wrong?" He walked over to her and reached out to cup her right cheek.

"I was just thinking, that's all." She said feebly.

"About what?" he asked in a soft voice.

"Roxas." She whispered.

Riku's face hardened and his eyes narrowed. "Don't listen to anything that jerk says, Naminé."

Naminé looked at him with wide eyes. "Wait…"

"Roxas likes to talk out of his ass, he never stops to think about other people's feelings." Riku hissed. "Seriously, don't ever let him get to you."

"No, it's not like that-"

"Don't defend him, Naminé." He said crossly. "Roxas isn't worth your breath." Riku straightened up and helped her stand up and gave her a soothing smile.

"No, it's not anything he said." Naminé said in an annoyed voice. "Quite the opposite…I feel like he's avoiding me."

"That's actually a good thing!" Riku said with a soft smile. "Naminé, Roxas isn't someone you should even try to be friends with."

"But Roxas-"

"What about me?"

Naminé's heart stopped, her breathing ceased and her eyes widened in horror as they landed on the handsome blond. He was leaning on the doorway with his arms crossed, but the worst part was that he looked absolutely livid.

"I came back to make sure you weren't hurt or anything Snow, but what do I find instead?" He said crossly. "Not only are you fine, but you're saying shit behind my back."

"No, th-that wasn't it!" Naminé said shakily; she got up from her seat and began walking towards the taller blond. "Roxas, I swear I wasn't gossiping about you!"

Roxas didn't reply, he merely raised his eyebrows.

"Don't waste your breath with this guy, Snow." Riku said acidly. He placed a hand on Naminé's shoulder, stopping her from moving towards Roxas.

Roxas's eyes narrowed; his heated glare pierced her heart and Naminé felt like she could cry. The blond turned and left the room and Naminé pushed Riku's hand away from her shoulders and bolted after Roxas.

"Roxas!" She yelled. "Roxas wait!"

"What do you want?" He growled. He turned around and glowered at her.

"Roxas, please…" She breathed. "I swear I wasn't saying anything bad about you!"

"Oh really?" He snapped. "Then what were you saying? What was so important that you had to talk to Riku about?"

"I was telling him that I was worried about you!" Her voice was starting to break.

"Some way of showing concern there, Naminé." He hissed. "Why didn't you just ask me if something was wrong instead?"

"How could I?" She hiccupped. "You've done nothing but avoid me almost all weekend!"

His eyes shifted; the harsh glare softened a bit, but his brows remained furrowed.

_This is it, this is my chance!_

"Did I...do something wrong?" she whispered. "Did I say something mean?"

His expression changed entirely; his eyes avoided hers and his lips became a thin line.

"Roxas…" She said softly. "Please tell me what's wrong."

She noticed that his fists had balled up, so she reached for his hands. To her joy, he intertwined their fingers together and finally looked at her.

"You haven't done anything wrong, Naminé." He said tenderly.

"So why are you avoiding me?" She took a step closer to him so that there was little space between them.

Roxas exhaled deeply. "…because Aqua said that if I didn't keep a distance from you she would-"

"There you are!"

Both blonds stepped away from each other as Sora walked over to them. "We can't keep the interviewer guy waiting or Terra will get pissed."

"We were on our way." Roxas replied.

"It looked more like you were standing there and talking." Sora mumbled. "Hey, where's Riku?"

"Here."

Naminé turned around and saw that the silveret was approaching them with a solemn look on his face.

"Let's head upstairs!" Sora beamed. He turned around and began walking towards the fourth floor staircase.

Riku walked past Naminé, but not before he gave her a wary look. He then followed his best friend and disappeared from her line of sight.

Naminé turned to face Roxas. "What were you saying?"

Roxas merely shook his head. "I'll tell you later." He began walking away, and Naminé could feel that her heart hammering in frustration. When he noticed that she wasn't walking beside him, he stopped and looked over his shoulder at her. "Come on."

She walked forward, but her eyes were fixed on the carpeted floor. She only stopped when his sneakers came into her view. She could feel the tears gathering up in her eyes again, and gave an involuntary sniffle.

"Naminé…I promise I'll tell you later."

She remembered his words about him keeping his promises and nodded. Naminé flowed Roxas up the stairs towards the fourth floor with her eyes looking at the back of his head every now and then. She felt like she was wasting valuable time by being quiet, when she should instead be asking about what Aqua had said to him.

_Whatever it was, it clearly had something to do with me or otherwise he wouldn't be avoiding me. _Her eyes looked up at him again. _I know he said that he'd tell me later but…I have to know._

"Roxas." Her tone was solemn, her voice steady and her eyes determined.

The tall blond stopped in his tracks and turned around to face her. Naminé wasn't surprised to see her own serious expression mirrored on his.

"What did Aqua say to you?" It was clear from her businesslike voice that she wasn't going to back down from her stance until she got her answers.

"I promised you I'd tell you later." He said in a humorless voice.

"It's later." She said as sternly as she could.

But instead of answering her Roxas simply rolled his eyes, turned around and continued walking up the stairs. Frustrated with his lack of response she ran up the stairs and stopped in front of him with her arms stretched outwards, blocking his path.

"Tell me." She said crossly.

Roxas raised an eyebrow. "You know, you really should learn to be patient."

"I _am_ a patient person." She replied. "But your silence is really draining my patience."

"Then I suggest you learn to enjoy the silence." He said curtly before pushing her right arm away so that he could continue his way to the fourth floor.

More frustrated than she ever was, Naminé watched as Roxas reached his destination and kept going. Naminé walked up to the fourth floor where she found him standing in the middle of the hallway.

_If he thinks I'm just gonna let the subject drop, he's got another thing coming._

"Roxas-"

"We need to find Grand Hall A." Roxas told her.

"I don't care what we have to find." She hissed. "All I want is for us to talk."

Roxas exhaled loudly. "Not right now, I already told you we'd talk later."

He moved forward and she followed him. "Roxas, this whole situation isn't fair to either of us! Aqua wants you to keep a distance from me and neither of us wants that!"

Roxas stopped walking; she had hit a nerve there.

"I don't want you to distance yourself Roxas." She softened her voice when she stood directly behind him. "I…I want you near…"

Roxas slowly turned around, his eyes searching her. He looked torn; half-elated and half-disappointed.

Naminé gulped. "And you, Roxas…you don't want to stay…away f-from me…right…?"

She reached out to grab his left hand but he walked away instead, leaving her in her spot. She watched as he walked down the hall and looked over at one of the doors before he opened it and entered the room.

_Maybe I have this whole thing wrong. Maybe I read too much into Roxas's words and actions. Maybe Kairi and Xion were wrong about me being in love with Roxas. Maybe he really does want to keep a distance and maybe Aqua didn't truly blackmail him into it…_

She could feel the tears sliding down her heart shaped face and splattering on her shoes or the carpet beneath her.

…_.maybe I'm in denial…_

But the biggest thing that bothered her was that she knew that she shouldn't be feeling this way to begin with. She was Snow Martin, not Naminé. Not at least in the eyes of the world, even if she was herself in Roxas's eyes.

_Maybe Roxas is onto something here…something that I should have taken into account. A relationship between us wouldn't be able to work as long as I'm my brother…_

And he knew that, whether because he realized it, or because Aqua had made him. The more she considered it, the more likely it was that this was why he was acting so distant. Aqua had told him that he needed to stay away in order for her to continue with the façade.

She looked over at the area where Roxas had walked into a room and was a bit startled when she saw Sora peeking his head out of a doorframe. As soon as his eyes found her, he began to wave enthusiastically at her.

Naminé waved back at Sora and tried to give the brunet the best smile she could muster. Sora went back inside the room and Naminé quickly wiped away her tears on the bottom of her copper colored tee before she walked to her destination.

She found Sora waiting for her inside the room with a big, goofy grin on his face. Much to her own surprise, Roxas was standing right behind his cousin.

"You'll never guess who's doing the interview." Sora grinned at her as she passed the threshold.

Naminé raised an eyebrow thoughtfully. "Terra had said it wasn't the creepy scientist guy."

"Yeah, it definitely isn't him." Sora said happily, his relief was thinly veiled.

"So who is it then?" Roxas's voice was laced with impatience.

"Someone you know well." Sora said smugly.

"We know this person?" she rasped inquisitively.

"Oh uh, actually, you don't know him Snow…" Sora said apologetically.

"But I do?" Roxas's voice had changed and he sounded quite curious. "Who is it?"

As the two cousins engaged in a game of questions, Naminé's eyes wandered around the room. She quickly noted that the whole size of the room was the size of her entire house…the pool patio included. What drew her attention the most was the center of the room; there she spotted what looked like a living room set straight out of a TV show. There was a large brown leather couch in the center with two individual single sofas on each flank. In front of all the seats was an oval shaped with a glass top, and on top of the glass was an ornate vase.

_Is this a photoshoot set or did I walk into a sitcom set?_

She then noticed a large green screen behind the "living room set", she also noticed a multitude of photography lights and light reflectors all set up around the area. She also noticed a small make up station a small distance way from the "set" and a rectangular table laden with various accessories and other trinkets. She noticed a familiar looking silveret looking around the area, with all of the female employees throwing flirty looks his way…which went unnoticed by Riku.

She hadn't been paying attention to the fact that her feet had begun moving forward and she ended up bumping into Roxas. "Sorry!"

He gave her a quick smile. "It's okay."

"There you are!"

Both Naminé and Roxas looked over their left side to see a young man walking over to them. The man was rather chubby; his messy black hair was held up by a black headband with gray lining. He had a red jersey on that had a skeletal looking dog with three bones above it and the words "Dog Street". Naminé felt like she had seen this round faced brunet before but couldn't quite place where.

"Pence!" Roxas said excitedly. The two guys hugged and clapped each other on the back as if they were lifelong friends.

"Say cheese!"

Naminé turned to her left and was quickly met with a camera flash. She blinked rapidly as her eyes focused on the photographer.

It was a young man with wavy looking blond hair that was styled upwards in an oddly manner. He was grinning from ear to ear, his chocolate colored eyes were lit up with mischief and he had an overall aura of a troublemaking child. The photographer looked like he was around her same age, if not one or two years older. At most.

"Hayner!" Roxas beamed. The two of them high-fived each other and then bumped their forearms together. "How have you been, man?"

"Alive." Hayner snorted and smacked the back of Roxas's head. "Don't you see me standing here?"

"Still a smartass as always." Roxas chuckled and then hit the back of Hayner's head.

"Still a bonehead as always." Hayner smirked.

The two narrowed their eyes at one another before they both burst out in laughter.

"You two haven't changed a bit." Pence smiled.

"But what would be the point in changing?" Sora asked. "You'll become boring."

"See Pence?" Hayner pointed an accusatory finger at his friend. "Sora knows what's up!"

"So I take it that you're conducting this interview, Pence?" Roxas smiled at the brunet in question before looking at Hayner. "And judging by the camera strapped around your neck, I take you're the photographer."

Hayner raised his head proudly. "Damn right I am."

"Terra called us about an hour ago." Pence explained. "And since we were still in town, we couldn't say no."

"So… the fact that this interview will the very first exclusive has nothing to with it?" Roxas asked in an amused voice.

"Of course not." Pence said honestly. "We just wanted to see you guys."

"Speak for yourself." Hayner scoffed. "First dibs baby!"

The four guys all busted out laughing and even Naminé had to cover her mouth to hide her own. However, it seemed like she hadn't concealed her laughter well enough as Hayner looked right at her. Naminé turned a bright shade of pink and attempted to hide behind Sora.

Sora turned around and smiled at her. "Oh let me introduce you!" He looked over his shoulder and said, "Guys, this here is Snow Martin."

Naminé smiled shyly and shook hands with both Hayner and Pence.

"Wow." Hayner said in awe. "You look like a girl."

"Dude, come on." Roxas swatted Hayner's arm. "Haven't you ever heard of androgyny?"

"Well yeah." Hayner said dumbly. "But he's something else."

"Seriously Hayner?" Sora said disapprovingly. "Way to make him feel awkward!"

"You're so insensitive, Hayner." Pence frowned. "Hard to believe you're getting married."

"You're getting married?!" The two cousins exclaimed simultaneously. But yet, for their unison, there was a difference in their delivery and tone. While Sora was both surprised and excited, Roxas was shocked and even fearful.

"Why does everyone always sound so surprised?" Hayner grumbled.

"I feel bad for her already." Sora snickered. "So who's the unlucky bride-to-be?"

"I'll have you know that Olette said that she felt like she was the luckiest girl in the _galaxy._" Hayner said proudly.

Sora beamed. "Congratulations!"

While Hayner thanked Sora and talked about how nervous he had been prior to proposing, Naminé looked over at Roxas. She was startled to him looked so hurt…how he had looked when she had been talking to him out in the hallway paled in comparison to this. And that hurt her deeply.

Roxas looked up and gave Hayner a big grin. "Congrats man! When's the wedding?"

"On October 24." Hayner said, a soft smile appearing on his boyish face. "Olette always loved the fall season, so it seemed like the perfect way to tie the knot."

"So how come we haven't gotten any wedding invites in the mail?" Sora said reproachfully.

"Maybe it's because I have no friggin' clue where you live." Hayner said dryly.

The conversation carried on about how Hayner had gathered the courage and popped the question to his fiancé. But with each tidbit that came to light, the more Roxas forced himself to look happy for his friend. It was clear that the news was hard on him, and Naminé couldn't bear to watch. Even when the conversation moved on to the quartet reminiscing about the "good old days", Roxas kept his expressions in check.

She looked back over at the accessory table and saw that Riku was still standing there, oblivious to all the girls in the area who were still trying to catch his attention. Not wanting to stay near Roxas, Naminé walked across the room and tapped Riku's shoulder when she had reached him.

"Oh hey." He smiled at her when their eyes met.

"How come you're here by yourself?" She asked.

"I don't know the other two guys." Riku replied.

"Really?" She was genuinely surprised by his response.

Riku chuckled. "You can't seriously think that I'm friends with all of Sora's friends."

Naminé noticed how Roxas was left out. "Aren't they from Destiny Islands?"

"Nope." Riku said succinctly. "According to what Terra said to me before you got here, these guys are from Twilight Town. Definitely not Destiny Islands."

Naminé giggled. "Thanks for the clarification."

"Glad to help." Riku smiled. He then picked up a bracelet from the table and frowned; the bracelet looked like two small leather belts glued together. "Holy shit, what made them think I'd wear this?"

Naminé looked down at the table and noticed that it was divided into four different sections of items and each section had a piece of paper taped at the top with each of their names. She looked down at Riku's section and noticed a necklace made entirely out of…handcuffs.

"Are you into bondage by any chance?" She asked as she held up the handcuff necklace for him to see.

"Not even." Riku scowled at the trinket, grabbed it and then tossed both necklace and belt bracelet on the table disdainfully. He looked over at Roxas and Sora's sections and shook his head. "Looks like they don't fare much better either."

Naminé walked over to her section and was quite relieved to see that most, if not all, her items had stars. Necklaces, rings, bracelets, wristbands, just about every item were to her liking.

"You got all the normal looking things." Riku frowned. "I get the S&M theme, Sora got skulls of all things and Roxas got a bunch checker patterns. You get stars…how is this fair?"

"Just lucky I guess." She said sweetly as she grabbed a necklace with three stars on it. The star on the left was colored black, the middle was gold, and the one on the right was silver. The chain was long enough for her to put on the necklace hassle-free, and when she placed the stars right in the middle of her clavicle, Naminé beamed at Riku.

"That looks great on you." He said softly.

"Riku! Snow!"

Both Naminé and Riku turned around to see Sora waving at them; the jovial brunet was standing on the "living room" with Roxas being directed how to sit by Hayner.

"I guess we're doing the photoshoot first." Naminé mused.

"Looks that way." Riku agreed.

The two walked over to the "set" and waited to be given instructions from Hayner. Under normal circumstances, Naminé would have hoped to sit beside Roxas, but not this time. She would much rather sit beside Sora or Riku, and if need be, she'd sit alone.

As it turned out, Hayner decided to have Roxas stand up and walk behind the couch, while Naminé sat directly below him. She tried to hide her discomfort but knowing herself she probably failed; this was confirmed when Hayner asked her to stop fidgeting. But relief came in the form of Sora who sat next to her and put her at ease. Much more so when Riku sat on her other side, she didn't even care that Roxas was watching when she beamed at Riku.

If Roxas wanted her to enjoy the silence, then he too would have to do the same.

* * *

><p>The photoshoot took less time than Roxas had anticipated, perhaps because Hayner was cracking jokes all the time. Maybe the punch lines were a little lame at times, but he never failed to get a smile from the musical quartet. After several group shots were taken, Hayner decided to do individual shots of each band member. As soon as one finished, they would proceed to interview with Pence.<p>

Roxas was the first to finish with both tasks; the questions Pence asked were rather simple and mostly were about how as a leader, Roxas had come up with the idea of forming the band. Everything was going great up until the part where Pence asked how he had reacted to Naminé's or rather, Snow's inclusion.

While Roxas had replied in the nicest way, his thoughts drifted over to the blonde in question. He knew that she was upset with him and she had every right to be. Roxas was sitting down on a folding chair that had been brought out for him after he had finished his interview. Admittedly, there were four chairs, one for each of them, so Roxas decided to make use of one.

Sora was still being interviewed by Pence while Hayner was finishing up Riku's solo shots. Hayner signaled for Naminé to sit on the large sofa couch while Riku got up from the same furniture. Hayner walked away to a small table that had all of his camera equipment along with a laptop while Naminé and Riku conversed among themselves.

Roxas's blood began to boil the moment that Riku gave Naminé a couch pillow and swatted her playfully with it. Naminé was laughing merrily as she grabbed the pillow from his grasp and returned fire, all while Riku gave her a loving look.

_Are you fucking kidding me? She couldn't sit still whenever I was near her and she's all fine and dandy around Riku!  
><em>_**You can't really blame her; you've been acting like a douche to her.  
><strong>__Like that's my fault? I _wish_ I could just take her and run off!  
><em>_**Then why not tell her the truth? Just tell her that if you're near her, then Aqua will take Naminé to live with her. Once you tell Naminé the truth, the two of you can avoid Aqua and still be together.  
><strong>__That's what I intend to do…if Naminé's still willing to talk by the end of the day. _

Roxas looked over at Naminé as her solo shots were underway. She was leaning against the couch pillow looking unbelievably adorable. She had such a beautiful smile on her face, her cerulean orbs glowing with such tenderness…she truly was the most gorgeous being he had ever laid his eyes upon. Hayner continued to have Naminé change her position for the following 20 frames, with the impossibility of Naminé looking less than breathtaking. Roxas knew that Hayner was going to have a hard time choosing which picture of her to use.

Roxas blinked when he felt someone approaching him. Darting his eyes away from the beautiful blonde, Roxas saw Terra looking right back at him with a scowl on his face. It didn't take long for Roxas to know where this was going to go.

"Aqua told you didn't she?" Roxas said emotionlessly.

"She did." Terra replied curtly. "Roxas, I don't think that I have to tell you of how grave the consequences could be if you pursue a romance with Naminé."

"You're right, you don't." Roxas said acrimoniously.

Terra sighed and sat down on the folding chair next to him. "Look, I know that this situation is far from normal, but when Naminé decided to take her brother's place, Aqua reassured Snow that Naminé would be safe."

"I'm not going to rape her or anything." Roxas said acidly.

"I don't know you well enough to reply to that." Terra said seriously. "And even if you're being honest, another problem will be how the two of you outwardly behave. You might think that it would be easy to keep a distance from her under the public eye, but it's not."

_I'm already struggling to stay away from her and it's only been two-and-a-half days. _

"Trust me, your body language will speak volumes." Terra continued. "Even standing next to one another will cause the gossip from fans and press alike."

"Terra, I get it." Roxas said testily.

The tall brunet didn't say anything more as he sat in his seat. Roxas looked over at Naminé as she lay down on the leather sofa smiling at Hayner as he announced the last frame was taken.

"And we're done!" Hayner announced loudly.

Riku walked over to her and helped her stand, this action caused Roxas's anger to rise.

"What about Riku?" Roxas hissed at Terra.

Terra raised an eyebrow. "Riku doesn't know Naminé's secret."

_Like hell he doesn't!_

"But if he's near her, he'll surely pick up on something!" Roxas insisted. "That's how I found out. Riku isn't stupid, he can put two and two together!"

"You have a point." Terra said thoughtfully. "But you can't just shoot at random Roxas. You need solid evidence."

_Oh I'll find your evidence…_

There was a loud noise from the entrance as the two large doors were slammed open. Everyone in the room stopped what they were doing as Terra stood up from his seat.

"TERRA DOHRING!" screeched a voice. Vexen Even Prince stormed into the room, his white lab coat rising into the air as he stomped over. He had a look of utter rage as he made his way to Terra.

"Hello Vexen." Terra said pleasantly. "How nice to see you."

"Don't you dare mock me!" Vexen hissed in a shrill voice. "How dare you give away MY exclusive?!"

Roxas noticed another man had entered the room; he was a tall lanky man with an eyepatch on his right eye, a large jagged scar on his left cheek that barely stopped under his left eye. His hair was dark with the exception of several grey streaks, all of it appeared to be tied up into a ponytail. Much like Hayner, this man had a camera strapped around his neck, which was lightly bouncing as the man walked forward.

"Well Vexen," Terra said, still keeping his voice as pleasant as possible. "Perhaps if you would have arrived in time, you could have been doing this interview right now."

"SILENCE!" Vexen howled. "I'll teach you to make a fool out of me!"

"Say cheese." Vexen's photographer said to Naminé and Riku, who were standing side by side. Riku quickly hid Naminé behind him before the camera flashed. "Oh bummer, I didn't get the girl in the shot."

"Girl? What girl?" Vexen hissed, his green eyes immediately seeking Naminé.

Sora quickly ran to his best friend's side to conceal Naminé even more from Vexen's view. Roxas quickly made his way over to her and wrapped her in his arms, making sure to keep her facing his chest.

"Could this be true?" Vexen said gleefully. "There's a girl among the Keyblade Wielders?"

"No, there isn't." Sora hissed.

"Then why are you hiding…_him_?" Vexen sneered.

"Because you're being an asshole." Riku snarled.

"How dare you insult me!?" Vexen snapped. "Mark my words, Keyblade Wielders! I'll ruin you all, I'll find a way to destroy you!"

"You need to leave the premises." Terra growled. "I'll personally escort you outside so that the other paparazzos can bask in your embarrassment."

"You'll regret ever crossing with me, Terra." Vexen hissed. He turned around and quickly left the room.

"You sure have a cute little lady in your band, boys." Smirked the eyepatch guy. "Sure makes me wonder who gets first dibs on her."

"Braig, leave or I'll call security." Terra said angrily.

Braig raised an eyebrow at Terra. "It's Xigbar, actually."

"Whatever, just get out." Terra hissed.

Xigbar chuckled and quickly took two shots at the group. "I gotta tell you boys something: you all have killer angry looks. That'll come in handy some day, I'm sure."

Xigbar left the room and closed the two large doors behind him. A few moments passed before anyone in the room moved. The first person to do was Naminé; she looked up at Roxas, her eyes silently asking if Vexen was gone. It pained Roxas to see the fear and uncertainty in her beautiful eyes, so he smiled as warmly and lovingly as he could. Naminé closed her eyes and rested her head on the crook of his neck, her grip on his shirt tightening.

Roxas sighed as his body crashed on his bed, his hands seeking his pillows so that he could squeeze the crap out of them. After their unpleasant encounter with Vexen, Terra had told them to head on home. He, Sora, Naminé and even Riku bid their goodbyes to Hayner and Pence, but not before exchanging cell phone numbers.

After getting a hold of Vayne, the four singers were taken to their beloved home…Sora, who still had plenty of energy to burn took it upon himself to invite Vayne to stay and play video games. But the redheaded chauffer politely turned the offer down saying he had things to buy for his new apartment.

Once again, Sora took it upon himself to volunteer not just himself, but Riku to give Vayne a hand. And much to Vayne's surprise, Sora didn't take no for an answer, completely ignoring his best friend's opinion of wanting to sleep. And so Roxas and Naminé were left alone in the house. But much like him, Naminé had locked herself up in her room, no doubt sleeping.

_Or maybe she's drawing…man, I wish I could draw, all I do are crappy looking stick figures. _

Roxas's thoughts drifted way from Naminé and to Olette…she was engaged, her wedding would be in a few months and he was invited. Roxas felt strangely hollow and yet…he was happy for her. Hayner could give her everything that he could not.

_Hayner certainly isn't keeping their relationship a secret like I had done. The only way Sora even found out about us was because he lives with me, but otherwise he'd remain clueless to this day…just like Hayner and Pence. _

Roxas had been surprised that not once in the entire time he had spent talking with Hayner did he bring up the subject of having dated Olette. Roxas was sure that Hayner would have chewed him out for it, but either Hayner still didn't know or chose not to say anything.

_If she hasn't said anything…why hasn't she said anything?  
><em>_**Maybe for the same reason you haven't. **_

Roxas was about to take off his pants when he heard a soft tapping on his door. He got up and walked across the room, knowing very well who was knocking.

He opened his door to see a drowsy looking Naminé. "Hey Naminé."

"You left your phone downstairs." She murmured. "It's been ringing for the last few minutes."

Roxas frowned. "No, my phone is up here. Hell, it's in my pocket." To prove his point, he pulled out his cell from his jeans.

"Then who has a red cell phone?" Naminé yawned.

"Sora." Roxas smiled. "That dummy left it here. Kairi's probably the one calling him now."

"Hmm, maybe." Naminé mumbled. She turned around and began walking towards her room when Roxas called out to her.

"Naminé…!" he breathed. "I can talk now."

Naminé stopped in her tracks and clenched her fists. "Let's talk later."

And with that she opened her door and closed it behind her, leaving him speechless. His phone began vibrating in his hand and he glared at it. It was from Riku.

_What the hell does he want?_

His anger dissolved when he read the message; it had clearly been written by Sora.

**Kairi and Xion are coming over! Pool party! 8D**

Roxas shook his head. ** You just want to see Kairi in a bikini. **

**I do not! D8**

Roxas smirked. **Liar, you know you do. **

…**you said it, not me…but yes. **

Roxas put his phone down on his bed and ran his fingers through his hair. He walked out of his room and across the hall to Naminé's. He knocked on her door and waited for a favorable reply.

"…it's open." She said solemnly.

Roxas opened her door and found her sitting in her desk, drawing away. "Hey, um, Kairi and Xion are coming over."

"They're probably checking on you." She said emotionlessly.

Roxas scowled. "Especially if they know that we're alone."

Roxas walked up to her desk and peered over her shoulder as she let her imagination venture out in its current path. Roxas felt like he should say something to make it less awkward.

"That's a nice sketchbook."

_**Are you freaking serious? Compliment her drawing, not the damn sketchbook!**_

Naminé looked up at him with a confused expression. "Thanks…it's the sketchbook you gave me."

_I did what? When did I ever do that?_

"I gave it to you?" he frowned. "When was that?"

"Last Thursday." She answered. "Remember when you said you were going to practice your penmanship? You even left me a note inside the sketchbook!"

"Can I see the note?" he asked warily.

"You took it!" she laughed. "Wow, you have a horrible memory Roxas!"

_When did I take a note from Naminé…? The only one I took was Riku's…_

It all clicked in his head. Of course he couldn't remember giving her the sketchbook, he didn't even buy it in the first place.

"Naminé…" Roxas said slowly. "Last Thursday…was that the day we fell asleep in your bed?"

"Yes…" she answered shyly, a deep blush appearing on her cheeks. "When I woke up, I found the sketchbook along with a pencil case here on my desk. Do you remember now?"

"Yeah…I remember now." He smiled. He leaned down to her level and pecked her lips. "Thanks."

She blinked in surprise and he heard a soft gasp coming from her pink lips. "Y-you're welcome."

Roxas ran out of her room and quickly opened his door. He looked around all over his room, thinking wildly of where he could have placed the very incriminating note.

He looked over at his trash can and saw a crumpled piece of notebook paper. With his blood pumping Roxas grabbed the paper and smoothened it out.

And there it was; in neat, eligible, slanted to the right handwriting.

_**Here's a gift for you, I hope you like it.**_

_**I practiced. **_

_No wonder she thinks I gave it to her, it says 'I practiced'.  
><em>_**But what exactly did he practice? Sneaking into a girl's room while she's sleeping? Creep.  
><strong>__It doesn't matter, I have evidence now that Riku knows her secret. Especially since Naminé had been wearing a strapless dress that day. _

There was a loud buzzing noise coming from downstairs.

"Roxas!" Naminé called from outside his room. "Kairi and Xion are here!"

Roxas smiled. _Looks like I won't be the only who has to stay away from Naminé._

* * *

><p><strong>RIP Gabriel Mendoza, you were the big brother I always wanted and I love you with all of my heart. <strong>


	15. Now That You Know

**As I had said in the last chapter of my other story, Hidden Truths, here is chapter fifteen! I hope you guys enjoy this one, I had a lot of fun writing it! **

**As always, thank you to all of my readers, reviewers, those who alert and favorite, I love you all and I appreciate the support! **

**I do not own Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy or Disney.**

* * *

><p><strong>Now That You Know<strong>

**Monday, May 25**

Keeping the crumpled note in his hand, Roxas bolted out of his room. He ran down the stairs and past the living room, until he came up to the foyer. Naminé was already at the front door, her hand on the handle. She heard his approaching footsteps and turned around and their eyes met. He felt the floor beneath him disappear, the air in his lungs felt heavier, and his arms wanted to hold her tight.

There was a loud knocking on the front door that made both of them jump slightly. Regardless of the sudden noise, Naminé still smiled softly at Roxas. The gesture was quickly returned by him.

Naminé opened the front door and Kairi was the first to enter the house. The crimson haired beauty greeted Naminé with a warm hug and a bright smile. It truly was like Naminé was another sister to Kairi; she certainly treated the blond as such. But the moment that Kairi's oceanic orbs fell on Roxas, the brightness of her smile waned a bit. Kairi had changed out of her nicer clothes that she had been wearing earlier and was now wearing a simple white summer dress with pink polka dots. She was also holding a large looking white beach bag, which had a gigantic heart in the center.

"Are you two by yourselves?" Kairi's voice indicated that she was attempting to be as reticent as possible.

"Yes we are." Roxas replied dully. "Didn't Sora tell you that?"

Kairi bit her lower lip and then gave him a thin smile. Her attention went back to the front door when Xion stepped inside the house and quickly greeted Naminé. The raven haired girl also gave Naminé a hug, though this was more tender than Kairi's. The smile was also softer than the redhead's; in fact, everything Xion did was different in execution from her older sister. Even the way the dressed was different; Xion was wearing a loose fitting lace-knit tunic with lilac colored denim shorts.

Unlike Kairi, Xion looked very happy to see Roxas, she made her way past Naminé as the latter closed the front door and gave him a loving hug. "I guess Sora forgot to mention it." Xion smiled.

Roxas shook his head. "He was probably too distracted by the idea of seeing Kairi in a bikini."

Kairi's cheeks immediately inflamed at that. "Roxas!"

"What? It's true!" He laughed. "He admitted it himself!"

Kairi puffed up her cheeks as the intense blush continued to spread through her face. "I refuse to believe Sora would say something like that."

"Except for the fact that he did." Roxas smirked. "You really can't blame him Kairi, he's a guy who's got a crush on you."

"See?" Xion said triumphantly. "I keep telling you that Sora likes you but you insist on believing otherwise."

During the whole exchange Naminé had remained quiet, she wasn't even smiling. She was just staring blankly at them. Roxas wondered if she was actually thinking about something or if she really was in outer space.

Roxas looked at Xion who was still smiling at her sister's expense, while said sister was trying to give Xion a reprimanding glare. The task in question was proving quite unsuccessful for Kairi.

"Can we talk?" Roxas and Naminé asked in unison.

Roxas meant his question for Xion, while Naminé was clearly talking to Kairi. An uncomfortable air loomed over them; the gayety from seconds ago had vanished in three mere words.

"Sure." Both sisters chorused. The two siblings looked at one another in surprise for a moment, before their expressions changed to uncertainty.

The awkward silence continued to invoke its presence as the two blonds led the sisters into the living room. Roxas looked over at Xion and saw that his ebony haired friend looked immensely uncomfortable, an expression that was mirrored on both Kairi and Naminé's faces.

Roxas opened his mouth in an attempt to diffuse the heavy air.

"Let's go to my room."

Once again, he and Naminé had spoken simultaneously. This time however, their eyes met and they burst out in laughter. Kairi and Xion looked at one another worriedly, but even they couldn't hold back their own laughs. With this better ambiance upon the quartet, they moved forward and up the stairs.

Once inside his room, Roxas sat down on his bed and patted the spot beside him, indicating for Xion to sit there. Xion closed his door then walked over to his bed and sat down in the indicated space.

"What's up?" Xion pleasantly smiled.

Roxas pursed his lips before replying. "So, earlier today, during the photoshoot and interview, Terra decided to have a little talk with me."

"About the situation with Naminé." Xion said succinctly.

Roxas rolled his eyes. "It wasn't a 'situation' until Aqua made it into one."

Xion nodded warily. "True…but anyways, back to Terra."

"Right…" Roxas grumbled. "He came and sat down next to me to say that I have to keep a distance from Naminé or otherwise Aqua would take her away."

Xion nodded, indicating Roxas to continue.

"I told him that I didn't find it fair that I have to stay away from Naminé when Riku doesn't." Roxas said as his anger started to rise.

Xion frowned in confusion. "But Roxas, Riku doesn't know anything about Naminé's secret."

"And that's where you're wrong." Roxas hissed. "He does know."

"Roxas, you can't say accusatory things like that without proof!" Xion chided.

"Actually, I do have proof." He opened his hand and showed her the crumpled note. "Last Thursday Naminé and I were talking about how I have crappy handwriting and I told her that it would practice writing better for her."

Xion looked uncertain; she was clearly having trouble believing in what Roxas was telling her.

"Naminé and I talked for a while in her room…" A small smile slowly manifested in his lips. "Then she and I fell asleep on her bed. I woke up before she did and I left her room."

"Wait…" Xion's voice was barely above a whisper; understanding was written in her face. "Last Thursday was when Kairi and I came over for the first time, wasn't it?"

"Yes, it was." Roxas answered. "I went back to her room to wake her up to tell her you guys had arrived. When I entered her room she thanked me about some sketchbook and a pencil case. I had no idea what she meant and then she showed me this note."

"And how does this involve Riku…?" Xion sounded like she didn't want Riku to be involved, like she was afraid of the silveret's involvement.

Roxas smoothed out the note and handed it to her. "For one, I know what Riku's handwriting looks like. You can even ask Sora and he'll confirm it."

Xion grabbed the note; her eyes scanned it multiple times, and with each time the more upset she looked. Her brows creased, her eyes glittered and her lips seemed to disappear into a thin line. She handed the note back to him and shook her head. "Despite recognizing Riku's handwriting…" Xion said slowly. "This doesn't exactly prove that he knows Naminé's secret."

Roxas raised his eyebrows in disbelief. "Well on that day Naminé had been wearing a strapless dress. She was wearing it when I left her room and she was still wearing it when I came back." Roxas leaned forward and looked Xion in the eyes. "He saw her, Xion. The dress exposed quite a bit of Naminé's cleavage."

Xion's lips quivered. "So Riku then…" Xion breathed softly, her words tainted with disappointment. "He knows about Naminé."

Roxas grabbed one of Xion's hands and squeezed it. "Are you gonna tell Aqua about him?"

Xion let out a shaky sigh. "If we tell Aqua about Riku…she won't let Naminé stay."

"What?" Roxas let go of Xion's hand.

"The only reason why Naminé's still living here is because Aqua's under the impression that you're the only who knows." Xion replied quietly. "If Aqua finds out that Riku knows, she won't even blink in hesitation and she'll take Naminé to live with her. Aqua won't make the deal with Riku like she did with you."

"So we can't do anything then?" Roxas hissed.

Xion shook her head.

Roxas clenched his fists tightly. "This is just great, everything always works out for Riku."

"Roxas…" Xion said warily.

"I have to keep my distance from Naminé like I had told Aqua." Roxas hissed bitterly. "And in return, I get to watch Riku continuing his romantic pursuit of Naminé."

Xion blinked. "Wait, what?"

"It's all he's ever done." Roxas growled lowly. "From the very beginning Riku has been interested in Naminé; Sora and I treated her like a little brother, but not Riku. He has been all over her from the start."

"He has?" Xion asked in a weak voice.

"Like you wouldn't believe." Roxas said heatedly. "And like always, he's gonna get away with what he wants; I can't be near her so he'll take advantage of this situation and try to win her over."

Roxas got up from his bed; his mind was reeling with images of Riku and Naminé being in love. He could see them holding hands, hugging, going out on dates and kissing. The mere thought of Riku's lips touching Naminé's was enough set his entire body on fire.

He looked over at his trash can and kicked the object across the room.

_Fucking Riku! He gets to be with Naminé, MY Naminé, and I get to be way from her just so that she and I can live in the same space! He gets to be with her as much as he wants while I can't be within three feet of her?! God-fucking-dammit!  
><em>_**Are you just going to let him do as he pleases?  
><strong>__Like hell I will! He won't a single second with her, not so long as I'm here._

* * *

><p>Naminé closed her door after Kairi had stepped inside her room. The ruby haired young woman smiled at her and then sat down on Naminé's bed. But Naminé didn't want to waste any time on pleasantries.<p>

"What did Aqua say to Roxas?" Naminé asked seriously.

The smile on Kairi's face faded. "Aqua told him that if he tried to have a romantic relationship with you, she'd take you to go live with her."

"Why is she butting in?" Naminé demanded. "Roxas and I are fine!"

"But Nami, don't you see?" Kairi stressed. "When you and Roxas make any type of public appearances, it'll be obvious to anyone who sees how you two act around each other!"

"It can't be more obvious than you and Sora." Naminé said in disbelief.

Kairi blushed. "You say that because you can't see the way you and Roxas behave around each other. You need to see it from an outward view."

Naminé crossed her arms. "Do you guys all think that Roxas and I would be so reckless as to kiss in public or something? That we just start having sex during a press conference?" Naminé knew that Aqua meant well but this whole situation was really grating on Naminé's nerves. "Before Aqua knew about Roxas, everything was fine."

Naminé recalled the sensation of being wrapped in Roxas's embrace and smiled. _So what if I fell in love with him too quickly? The feeling is here and it's mutual between us. _

"I don't care what Aqua says." Naminé said determinedly. "I'm not going to keep a distance from Roxas."

"Naminé, don't." Kairi pleaded. "Do you want her to take you away?"

"She can't take me anywhere against my will." Naminé replied. "I believe that the legal adult age in Radiant Garden is 18, well I'm 20. She can't take me anywhere and I highly doubt that she herself or Terra for that matter, would rat me out to the company."

Kairi looked dumbfounded. "Naminé…you're seriously going to go against the company for a guy you've barely known for almost two weeks?"

"You'd do the same for Sora." Naminé said pointedly. "Wouldn't you?"

Kairi's eyes looked at her knees. "…yes, I would."

"Kairi…you're not gonna tell Aqua about Riku, are you?" Naminé asked softly.

"Riku?" Kairi blinked confusedly. "What about Riku?"

Naminé raised her eyebrows and gave Kairi an incredulous look. "Don't you remember what I told you Saturday morning? I told you that Riku also knows my secret!"

"Oh my god…" Kairi's navy colored eyes widened as she tried to remember. "With all the Vanitas drama going on that morning, I totally forgot that you told me that!"

"Are you gonna tell Aqua?" Naminé asked again.

"Nami…she has to know." Kairi replied solemnly.

"Fine." Naminé said dismissively. "But I'm sticking to my guns; she can't take me away without my approval."

A small proud smile appeared on Kairi's face. "You're fight for your love, Nami?"

Naminé's cheeks turned a faint pink shade and nodded. "I am. I know that it might seem foolish to want to be with someone that I've known for two weeks, but I don't care."

"Love is unpredictable, Naminé." Kairi said breathlessly. "It shows up unexpectedly, it comes and goes, and sometimes, it doesn't care for human logic. It's just there."

Naminé smiled appreciatively. "Did you get that from a romance novel?"

Kairi laughed heartily. "Hey don't diss the romance novels! They're great for passing the time!"

"I take it you read a lot then." Naminé giggled as she sat down on her bed next to Kairi.

"I read quite a few when I was younger." Kairi shrugged. "Reading too many romance novels can set up some seriously unrealistic expectations of love."

"Like what?" Naminé asked curiously.

"Oh, things like a guy will drop everything that he's doing to be with you whenever you call, that they'll always be attentive to your every whim, which goes hand-in-hand with being under the impression that a guy's life must revolve around you. It's not like, you know, they might have a life outside of you."

"Oh." Naminé frowned; she certainly didn't want Roxas's life to revolve just around her. "Did you actually believe any of that stuff?"

"Not gonna lie…but I did." Kairi looked quite embarrassed by her confession. "I guess the books made a big impact on my impressionable mind at the time. But be careful, reading too much of that cheese can be really bad for your health."

Naminé wondered if maybe by a small chance something similar to her current situation had ever been written in a romance novel.

_The author would have to be either quite imaginative or bored out of their mind._

"Naminé…" Kairi said in a low voice. "Have you told Roxas that Riku knows?"

Naminé shook her head. "I don't even know how to begin that conversation."

"So what are you gonna do?" Kairi asked tenderly.

"Neither one knows that the other knows." Naminé replied, her voice laced with worry. "I can't keep them thinking that. Both of them insist on not trusting the other so that my secret won't be discovered…but they both already know."

Kairi got up from Naminé's bed and walked over to the blonde. "I know it won't be easy and if you need any emotional support, I'm always here."

Naminé smiled admiringly. "Thank you, Kairi."

"Xion too, of course." Kairi giggled. "We're only a call or text away!"

The two girls hugged when someone knocked on Naminé's door. "Who is it?" asked the blonde.

"It's me." Xion replied.

"Come in!" Naminé called.

The door opened and Xion walked in with a forlorn expression. Kairi immediately walked over to her younger sister and put her hands on Xion's shoulders. "Hey, what's wrong Xio?"

Xion's eyes briefly fell on Naminé before looking at Kairi. "Can I talk to you for a second?"

"You guys can talk here, I'll go to the living room." Naminé said politely. She walked past the two sisters and then out of her room. She closed the door, but her eyes remained on the doorknob.

_I wonder what's wrong with Xion? She looked so disconsolate…_

"Naminé?"

She knew that Roxas was behind her but hearing his voice whisper her name so softly made her turn to face him. She looked up at him; his eyes examined hers and his brows creased questioningly. But despite that, he still reached out and wrapped her in his arms. Naminé easily rested her head at the base of his neck, her body melded against his so perfectly and her hands placed themselves on his lower back.

"Are you alright?" He spoke in such a soft tone that it was barely above a whisper. One of his hands began combing her silky tresses while the other softly made soothing circles on the small of her back. "I'm sorry that I was acting like such an asswipe earlier today, I should've just talked with you."

"I wasn't much better a little while ago." Naminé replied.

"But you had every right to be angry with me." He reasoned. "If you want, we can talk in my room."

"Okay." Naminé smiled.

He let go of her but he quickly grabbed her left hand and led her to his room. Once the two were inside his room, Naminé quickly took notice of his trash can being lopsided near his door. Roxas walked over to his bed, never once letting go of her.

The two sat down and Naminé waited for Roxas to speak. "So…on Saturday afternoon, after Aqua found us…uh, hugging in the kitchen, she told me that she wanted to talk. When I got to the pool area she was waiting there for me with Kairi and Xion came with me."

"Did Aqua yell at you?" Naminé asked.

Roxas gave her a crooked smile and held her hand tighter. "Well, yeah." He smirked. "Aqua basically called me reckless for trying to kiss you in a house full of people and that if anyone else had walked in, then I could have exposed your secret."

Naminé blushed slightly at the kiss part. "But more than half of the people in the house already know my secret anyway!"

"I know, but don't forget how Sora, Riku and Vayne were around." Roxas reminded her. Naminé bit her lower lip at the mention of Riku's name. "Anyways, Aqua went on about how if you and I…continue our romantic behavior we could end up accidentally giving your secret away."

"How would people even work that out?" Naminé asked frustrated. "If I saw two people whom in the public eye are identified as men acting all romantic with each other, I wouldn't think one of them is secretly a girl! I would think that either they're gay or teasing each other for the sake of messing with their fans!"

"That's…a really good point." Roxas said elatedly. "And it's not like two band members flirting for the sake of their fans is unheard of anyway."

"Well if that's the case then why is Aqua acting like people would jump to the conclusion that I'm a girl if we kissed in public?" Naminé asked heatedly.

Roxas raised an inquisitive eyebrow. "Kissing in public? We would do that?"

Naminé turned a deep crimson shade and looked away. "I-I meant it as a figu-figure of speech…"

"So you wouldn't want to kiss in public, then…?" Roxas said cheekily.

"I didn't say that…" Naminé mumbled, still keeping her eyes away from looking into his.

"It's funny how we're talking about kissing in public when we haven't even really kissed." Roxas said thoughtfully.

Naminé shyly looked at him; she found that his eyes held so much ardor in them, his face never betraying the adoration in his words. He held her hand tighter and slowly pulled her closer to him to the point where her face was on level with his.

"You know, when we were recording 'Disguise', Terra asked me if I could write any more songs." He said adoringly, his fingers tenderly caressing her cheeks and lower lip. "Then at the Q&A panel on Friday, he mentioned how we were supposed to have more songs for a full album."

"Do you have any new material?" Naminé asked softly. _Can he hear all the racket my heart is making?_

"Hmm, I might have something…" Roxas pursed his lips thoughtfully, an action that made Naminé weak in her knees.

"What's it about?" She whispered lovingly, the beating of her heart increasing to an alarming rate.

Roxas looked at her with such intensity that she felt her body heat up all over. He leaned in closer; their breaths intermingling and the tips of their noses touching.

"You." He breathed before his lips met hers.

Naminé felt like she was walking dreaming…but the sweet taste of his lips brought her right back to an even better reality. Roxas guided the two of them to lie down on his bed, never once breaking the kiss. This new position allowed her to wrap her arms around his neck and bringing him closer to her body. She had once felt like they were two pieces of a puzzle made specifically to fit together. The way his body covered hers without inflicting any pain, the way his right arm was enough to hold him over her while his left arm slid down her side.

"Roxas." She managed amidst kisses.

"Naminé." He replied huskily.

His lips moved away from hers and made their way down her neck, making breathing a difficult task for Naminé. His tongue ran over her neck, right over a vein. She gave out an involuntary moan, which in turn caused him chuckle. Naminé's arms unwrapped from his neck; one hand went up his neck to grip his golden locks, while the other moved down to his chest right where she could feel his beating heart.

Their bodies began to move of their own accord; her hips began to rise, seemingly to meet his own. The intense heat that she had experienced on Saturday had returned, but this time it was much more ardent. Her body craved for his flesh, for his hands to explore her skin, for his mouth to journey to other parts of her anatomy. She heard him grunt when her hips briefly brushed against his, the sensation was quite exciting even for her. She dared herself to do it again…as she lifted her hips, she was met with a very prominent tent in his pants. This tent managed to touch the outer area of her femininity and caused the already blazing heat explode into a full-blown eruption of rapturous heat.

_I can't breathe…my compression shirt won't let me! _

"Roxas…" She said breathlessly. "I need…"

"I need you too, Naminé." He said seductively. "I need you so much."

Roxas's attention moved back up to her lips and kissed her fiercely, as if his life depended on it. Naminé returned the kiss with as much fervor as she could muster, for the lack of oxygen was becoming dire. Their hips met once again, his clothed erection meeting with her equally clothed womanhood. Roxas lowered his body a bit more so that she didn't have to raise her hips so much. The heat that was consuming her was leaking out of her; she could feel underwear becoming moist as it continued to pool at her center with every meeting with Roxas's manhood.

But before things could escalate any further, their actions came to a screeching halt when they both heard the loud clanking of the gate outside. Their lips pulled apart and their heads turned to Roxas's door, both clearly expecting someone to knock and announce Sora and Riku's arrival.

And right on cue came said knocking.

"Hey guys?" Kairi asked slowly.

"Yeah?" Roxas responded loudly.

"Um, Sora and Riku are here." Kairi said shakily.

"We'll be right out!" Roxas replied.

"Okay!" Kairi said hastily.

Naminé didn't even realize that she had been holding in her breath until she exhaled loudly, bringing Roxas's attention back to her. He leaned down and kissed her lips, but unlike before this kiss wasn't as fiery and needy, it was rather gentle and loving. He slowly rolled to his side so that she could get up, he then sat up on the edge of his bed.

"I think you should head out first." He said tentatively.

Naminé sat up and leaned her head against his left shoulder, her cerulean eyes looking at the side of his face. "What's wrong?"

"…I have a slight problem." Roxas said tensely.

Naminé was about to ask what he meant when her eyes landed on his crotch. Her cheeks burned instantly and she stiffened in her place. "I see." She gulped.

"Wait, did you just actually look?" Roxas laughed, as he turned around enough to look at her. "Naminé, did you seriously look down at my crotch?"

Naminé buried her face in her hands and nodded weakly.

Roxas pulled her hands away from her face and kissed her in the mouth. When he broke the kiss, he smirked in a very sexy way. "I had no idea you were so naughty."

"I di-didn't mean to!" Naminé said shakily. "I just…looked."

"We're home!" Sora's voice boomed from downstairs.

Roxas and Naminé laughed as she moved away from him, making her way to the edge of the bed. Once the hilarity had subsided she got up and turned to smile at him.

"I'll see you out there." She said sweetly, she then leaned in and gave him a quick kiss in the lips. She made her way to his door, only stopping to look back at him when she reached out for the doorknob. His eyes met hers and he gave her a tender smile which she quickly returned before she left the room.

* * *

><p>Roxas walked out of his room about fifteen minutes later, after a quick cold shower of course. He also changed into his black swim trunks and a simple white t-shirt. Roxas made his way down the stairs and found Sora talking animatedly with Naminé.<p>

"I'm telling you Snow!" Sora said excitedly. "You should have heard it!"

"Heard what?" Roxas asked as he approached his cousin.

"Oh you're never gonna believe this!" Sora beamed. "When Riku and I were at Vayne's house, we heard 'Disguise' playing on the radio!"

Roxas's eyes widened. "What? Are you serious?!"

"Yes!" Sora laughed. "We couldn't believe it ourselves at first, but Vayne told us that it wasn't the first time he had heard the song!"

_Holy shit! I can't believe that our song is on the radio! I can't wait to hear it!_

"It was so awesome!" Sora continued. "Scratch that, no words can do the feeling any justice!"

"Our song on the radio…" Roxas said dazedly. "I can't believe it…"

"You guys must be proud." Naminé rasped zestfully.

"It's your song, too." Sora told her. "You were the one playing that killer rhythm guitar in the song!"

Naminé shook her head. "But other than that, I contributed nothing to the song. It's yours, it's been your song long before I came into the picture."

Roxas looked at her thoughtfully, then stepped beside her. "But now you're one of us, ergo, the song is yours as well."

Naminé gave him a playful smile. "Thanks."

Roxas was tempted to kiss her cheek but refrained from doing so in front of Sora, so instead Roxas decided to ruffle her hair. He looked over at Sora and saw that his cousin was smiling at them with a glazed look in his eyes. "Where's Kairi?"

Sora snapped out of his trance and then looked at Roxas. "I dunno, probably in her house still."

Roxas and Naminé both raised an eyebrow.

"Sora, Kairi got here a few minutes ago." Naminé rasped.

Sora blinked. "She what?"

"Yeah, she's the one that told us you and Riku were home." Roxas added.

"What…?" Sora looked around the living room and even looked behind him at the kitchen. "But…where is she then?"

"Maybe she's in my room…" Naminé mused.

Sora gave Naminé a suspicious look. "Why would Kairi be your room?"

"She was talking with Xion there before…she told Roxas and I that you guys were here." Naminé said as calmly as possible. "I'll go get both of them."

Without any further words from Sora, Naminé made her way as quickly as possible without making Sora any more suspicious than he already probably was.

"You're not jealous, are you?" Roxas smirked at the brunet.

"What? N-no!" Sora stammered. "After all, can't a guy and a girl be friends?"

"True." Roxas said amiably. "But don't act like you see Kairi as your friend only."

Sora's cheeks turned a faint pink shade. "…"

Roxas chuckled and clapped Sora's shoulder. "Don't worry, I'm sure she likes you too."

"You keep saying that…" Sora mumbled. "But I have yet to see it for myself."

"Wow, seriously?" Roxas said disapprovingly. "Am I gonna have to record you guys interacting just so that I can show you how obvious the two of you are being?"

"Well what about you?" Sora said in an equally disapproving tone. "You and Xion are pretty obvious too and I bet you that you don't see it that way."

"Huh?" Roxas blinked rapidly in confusion. "Where do you even get that?"

"Oh come on!" Sora rolled his eyes. "You're always spending time with her! Even Riku thinks you like her!"

_Oh, Riku thinks that does he?_

"Well Riku's got it completely wrong." Roxas hissed. "Xion is like a sister to me. Just because I care for her, look after her, and spend time with her doesn't automatically mean that I like romantically."

"He was just speculating." Sora said apprehensively. "I don't think he meant anything serious by it, it's just that it's something easy to assume."

"I think he's hoping that I'll fall for Xion." Roxas muttered. "That way, he can have a clear path…"

"Huh?" Sora raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"Nothing." Roxas said off-handedly.

Sora creased his brows in suspicion. "You know, I've said it before and I'll say it again: my face may not help me, but it doesn't mean I'm stupid."

"I never said you were!" Roxas exclaimed.

"I know something is going on." Sora said solemnly. "You, Snow, and Riku all know something that you're not telling me."

Sora walked away from Roxas and headed in the direction of the kitchen, while Roxas watched his cousin's retreating back.

_I'm so sorry, Sora…but it's not my secret to tell. _

Roxas followed his cousin's footsteps, when he entered the kitchen Roxas heard the ruffling of plastic bags coming from the dining room. Roxas walked in to find Sora pulling out a few plastic packets of pool inflatables and placing them on the dining table.

Sora looked at his side as Roxas approached him, the blond was bit startled by the reproachful look on the brunet's face. Roxas grabbed one of the packets and raised an eyebrow. "Beach balls?"

"I figured we could use a few since we have guests." Sora said. His voice sounded a little lighter than it had a few seconds ago, but it still wasn't his normal tone.

"How many did you get?" Roxas asked as he noticed that there were at least five packets on the table and Sora was still pulling out more from the plastic bag.

"I dunno…about ten I think." Sora mused. "Yeah, ten give or take."

"Why so many?" Roxas asked, the smallest of smiles tugging at the sides of his mouth.

"Um, just in case…" Sora murmured as he pulled out the last packet, which brought a total of ten packets.

"In case of what?" Roxas raised his eyebrows while trying to contain his amusement in his voice.

Sora grumbled incoherently as he took the plastic bag and rolled it up into a small bow.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" Roxas smiled.

"I was just really excited and I grabbed a bunch of beach balls at random, okay?" Sora muttered.

Roxas chuckled. "And why were you so excited about?"

Sora blushed as he looked away. "No reason."

Roxas scoffed. "So Kairi wearing a bikini isn't a reason, then? Because it sounds more like plenty reason enough to me."

Sora narrowed his eyes at Roxas, while attempting to keep himself from blushing any further.

"Easy there, Sora." Roxas chuckled. "Kairi in a bikini aside, did you bring anything to eat?"

Sora's face fell. "Oops."

"So lemme get this straight." Roxas said airily. "You bought ten beach balls at random, but not once did you think about bringing food?"

"Um…" Sora chuckled nervously. "…no."

Roxas shook his head. "Coming from you, I'm not surprised. But Riku forgetting to buy food is unheard of."

"Hey, I take offense to that!" Sora frowned, his voice finally returning to its normal cheery tone. "We can always just order pizza or something."

"Well, I'll just ask Kairi or Xion if they know any good pizzerias around here." Roxas sighed.

"Or we could ask Vayne." Sora suggested.

"The guy is probably finishing settling in into his new apartment." Roxas reasoned.

"Actually, he's here." Sora said succinctly.

"He is?" Roxas raised his eyebrows. "Where?"

"He's probably outside by the pool with Riku." Sora answered lightly. "They were setting up the automatic air pump we bought."

"Why would you buy an automatic air pump?" Roxas frowned.

"To inflate all the beach balls and the floating chair I bought." Sora replied.

"You bought a floating chair, too?" Roxas shook his head.

Sora was about to reply when they both heard the sliding glass door opening. The two cousins walked over to the glass door right as Vayne was walking in. The redheaded chauffer had his long hair tied back rather than braided like usual, he was wearing a pair of khaki shorts and a mint green v-neck tee. Upon seeing Roxas, Vayne smiled pleasantly.

"Hi Roxas." Vayne walked to the blond and offered his hand.

Roxas raised an eyebrow, but shook the man's hand anyway. "Hey Vayne."

"Is Riku still outside?" Sora asked Vayne.

Vayne nodded. "He just finished inflating the chair."

Sora zoomed past the blond and the redhead, leaving the two inside the house. Roxas looked at Vayne; the redhead was looking back at him as if he were trying to figure Roxas out. And so was Roxas; he didn't really know why Vayne was here, perhaps he had come to lend Sora and Riku a hand as a way to repay them for helping him move to his new apartment.

"I'm sorry." Vayne said suddenly.

Roxas blinked. "Huh?"

"I didn't mean to stare at you like that." Vayne explained.

"Oh." Roxas said lamely. _I guess he was just spacing out, then. _

"It's just that you and Sora look a lot alike." Vayne smiled.

Roxas returned the smile. "It might have something to do with the fact that we're cousins."

"The two of you seem very close." Vayne said warmly. "Like a…pair of brothers."

"Well I did grow up with him." Roxas said pointedly.

"Oh, you guys lived next door to each other?" Vayne inquired.

Roxas sighed. "Something like that."

Roxas didn't want to disclose his past with a stranger like Vayne, hell, he hadn't even talked about his past with Naminé and he was in love with her!

"Roxas!" called Kairi from the living room.

Roxas walked over to the area where the redhead was in and his eyes widened when he saw the crimson haired beauty clad in her swim shorts and her floral pattern bikini top. He tried his hardest to not stare at her for too long, but with her rather obvious cleavage out in front of him, it proved to be a challenge.

"What's up?" Roxas asked lightly.

"Where's Sora?" she asked, clearly trying to suppress the eagerness in her voice.

"Oh, he's out in the pool area." Roxas replied. His attention was drawn over to the staircase as Xion and Naminé walked down. The small dark haired sister wasn't as bold as her older sibling; Xion was wearing a dark violet one piece suit with small black flowers decorating the front. She smiled at Roxas, her cheeks carrying a faint rosy color.

Naminé had also changed, but into more summer appropriate male attire. The blonde was wearing a light blue t-shirt and plaid shorts. Roxas stared curiously at her, if Naminé wouldn't be pretending to be a boy, what kind of swim suit would she have been wearing? A one piece or a bikini?

The two sisters walked past him, no doubt headed for the pool, while Naminé remained behind looking wistfully at them. Roxas walked over to her and hugged her. "What's wrong, Naminé?"

She leaned her head against his torso. "I really wish I could go into the pool."

Roxas lifted her chin with his hand so that he could see into her eyes. "One day, I'll get Sora and Riku to go somewhere so that you and I can swim around freely."

Naminé smiled radiantly. "I'd like that."

"Come on, let's head outside." Roxas said softly, placing a tender kiss on her forehead. "I wanna see Sora's reaction to Kairi's bikini."

Naminé shook her head disapprovingly but giggled anyway. The two blonds decided to go through the parlor, rather than the long way through the kitchen and then the dining room like the two sisters. And sure enough, Roxas and Naminé had reached the glass door that led to the outside patio just a few seconds before the swimsuit clad sisters.

Roxas opened the sliding glass door to find Riku tossing a large clear blue plastic floating chair into the pool; Vayne was standing right by a round black coiled-looking machine that was plugged in to the electrical outlet on the wall, while Sora was finishing inflating a ball with his mouth.

Sora had exhaled into the ball just as Kairi had stepped out into the patio, this made him drop the recently inflated smiley face ball and it caused him to sharply inhale back his own air and ended up choking on it. He coughed rather violently as he tried to regain his footing; Kairi quickly ran over to his side and started clapping him in the back.

"Breathe Sora!" Kairi said frantically. "Breathe!"

Vayne pulled out one chairs from the round patio table and helped Sora sit down, though it was clear that the redhead was trying to hold back his laughter. Roxas, Xion and Riku laughed loudly, Naminé was torn between keeping her laughter in and attempting to look concerned.

Kairi bent downward so that her face was slightly above Sora's face, leaving her ample cleavage right in front of Sora's eyes. His eyes were darting around in all other directions but with such a sight before him, it was clear that not even he could fight the urge to look at Kairi's breasts.

"Don't just stand there!" Kairi hissed at the rest. "Bring him some water!"

Naminé ran back inside the house while Roxas and Xion's laughter subsided. Naminé came back out with a glass of water and handed it to Sora, who quickly began to drink from it, while Riku walked up to Kairi and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Kairi, if you don't mind me saying," he said smoothly. "That's a really nice top."

Sora spat his water right back out, most of it landing on Kairi's chest.

"Sora!" Kairi shrieked as laughter erupted from all around.

"I'm s-s-sorry!" Sora sputtered immediately. He got up from his seat and tried to hold her in some way, though it was more than evident that he was internally wrestling with himself over how to how hold her. "I swear that I didn't mean to get you wet!"

Roxas looked over at Xion and nudged her shoulder. "I bet you anything that he wishes he had gotten her wet in another way."

"Ew, Roxas!" Xion laughed, lightly shoving him aside.

This reaction caused everyone else to look at the two of them, Sora in particular looked aghast at Roxas. "What did you tell her?" He asked accusingly.

"Nothing…" Roxas said as innocently as he could. On his right side Xion was struggling to compose herself. "She's just being silly."

Xion let out a disbelieving laugh. "Me!?"

"Yes, you." Roxas replied nonchalantly.

Attention was drawn away from them when the automatic air pump began to beep rather loudly. Vayne turned to the machine and then proceeded to unplug it. "Sorry about that, I forgot to turn it off."

"No worries." Riku said amiably. "Hey, are the boogie boards still in the car?"

"I think so." Vayne replied thoughtfully. "I'll go see."

Vayne excused himself and walked past the group as Kairi looked at the silveret.

"Boogie boards?" She smiled. "Wow, you guys went all out for this."

"Not quite." Riku sighed. "We bought all this pool stuff and we forgot all about dinner."

Kairi raised an eyebrow. "You forgot the most important part!"

"Kai, I think we should leave." Xion said in a serious tone, though the smile tugging at her lips betrayed her voice. "They're clearly gonna starve us here."

"We can go buy something really quick!" Sora boomed. "There's gotta be some fast food place around here somewhere!"

"We were kidding Sora." Xion giggled. "And actually, there's a really good pizzeria not that far from here."

"Oh you mean Neverland Pizza?" Vayne spoke as he stepped outside, his arms laden with various foam boards in a wide array of colors. "I love that place, I always get Peter Pan style."

"What's that?" Naminé rasped inquisitively.

"Oh, it's a deep dish, but it's just what they call it there." Vayne answered as Naminé helped him set down the boogie boards on the round glass table.

"How many would we order?" Roxas asked. "And what kind of pizza should we get?"

"We can always do the Lost Boys promotion." Kairi suggested.

"What's that?" Sora asked.

"It's where you can order your own personalized pizza for parties and such." Xion answered.

"That sounds pretty good." Riku mused. "What's the price range on that?"

"It depends on the number of pizzas you order, as well as any additional toppings. They don't charge for two of them, any others they do." Xion replied. Roxas couldn't help but notice how dry her voice sounded when she spoke to Riku in contrast to when she spoke to anyone else.

"We should definitely do that." Sora said brightly. "I mean, this way we can avoid just getting one type of pizza that some of might like, but not the rest."

There was a chorus of agreement among the group; Kairi and Xion went back inside the house to bring their towels out, Sora and Riku also went inside to change into the appropriate swim gear leaving Roxas, Naminé and Vayne outside.

"We should write down what everyone likes." Naminé rasped thoughtfully. "That way, when we order the pizzas there'll be no confusion."

"I can tell you what Sora and I want easily." Roxas replied as he sat down on one of the lounge chairs. "He'll have a pepperoni with ham and pineapple."

"And you?" Naminé smiled.

"The very same, it's actually called Island Pizza." Roxas smiled.

"And you Vayne?" Naminé rasped politely.

"Oh no, I won't be staying." Vayne replied.

The glass door slid open and Sora walked out in his bright red swim trunks and a blue towel draped on his shoulders. "What do you mean you're not staying?" Sora frowned at the redhead. "You have to stay!"

"I'm afraid I'm not a very good swimmer." Vayne said embarrassedly.

"Don't feel bad about that!" Sora smiled encouragingly. "Snow doesn't know how to swim either!"

Roxas and Naminé briefly looked at each other and turned back to Sora.

"I didn't bring any extra clothes." Vayne said quickly. It was becoming clear to Roxas that the redhead didn't want to impose, but unfortunately for Vayne, he hadn't encountered Sora's determination.

"Oh, don't worry about that!" Sora grinned. "You look like you're around my size so I'll lend you some clothes!"

"No Sora, really." Vayne said apologetically.

"Okay, fine." Sora said amicably. "You won't swim, but at least stick around for dinner!"

Vayne fumbled around for words but when he couldn't come up with any, he merely nodded weakly.

"That's the spirit!" Sora beamed. He placed his towel on Roxas's head, to which the blond frowned at.

Roxas removed the towel and picked up the smiley face ball that Sora had previously inflated. He aimed at his cousin, completely unaware that Xion was stepping out with her lilac towel in her arms. Roxas tried to take a swipe at Sora, but ended up smacking Xion's face instead. The brunette opened her mouth in shock as Roxas got up from the lounge chair and gave her an apologetic, nervous smile.

"Xion, I'm so sorry!" He pleaded. "I totally didn't see you coming!"

Xion narrowed her eyes at Roxas; she picked up the smiley face ball and threw it at Roxas's head. The ball bounced off him and he turned around and gave Xion a fake heated glare. "Oh it's on now, Xion."

"Bring it then, Roxas." She countered.

Xion yelped in surprise when Roxas easily scooped her up and then ran towards the pool, with Xion rapidly chanting, "Nononononononononononononono nonono!"

"Too late!" Roxas laughed as he tossed Xion right into the cool waters.

Xion surfaced and immediately began to splash water in his direction. "Roxas, you jerk!"

The blond took a few steps back to avoid the water; he removed his white t-shirt and then cannon balled right into the pool. The moment he came up to the surface Xion lunged right at him, trying to dunk him. It wasn't too hard fighting her off, Xion was rather lightweight and Roxas had no trouble keeping her arms at bay.

* * *

><p>Naminé smiled softly as she watched Roxas and Xion play around in the pool; Vayne had tossed the smiley face ball at them, Roxas and Xion quickly tried to grab it and continuously tried to dunk one another in the process. Sora eventually joined in the fun, but only after Kairi had walked outside. The two of them ran into the fresh waters in a dual cannon ball, making quite the splash as they hit the water.<p>

Vayne walked over to them and began talking to the quartet, while Naminé sat down on the lounge chair where Roxas had been previously sitting. Naminé saw how Xion was trying to get on the inflatable floating chair, but Roxas kept trying to throw her over.

Naminé rested her elbows on her knees and then placed her chin in the palm of her hands. She was a bit envious of what she was seeing; specifically how both Kairi and Xion could have so much fun without a worry. Naminé's vision was obscured by a dark grey towel being placed on her head. As Naminé was removing said towel, she could easily guess who had placed it.

"It's a shame you can't go in." Riku said. "I bet you'd have a lot of fun."

Naminé nodded wearily. "I probably would."

Riku took a seat beside her as she handed him back his towel. "Well, maybe one day, when there's no one else here, you and I can take a dip."

She turned to look at him as she straightened up in her seat. "Riku…"

He pat her back and gave a tender smile. "Don't you worry, Naminé, I'll make sure it happens."

He got up and walked over to the pool; Sora instantly began goading his best friend into a cannon ball contest, to which Riku agreed to. No sooner than that Sora got Kairi to participate, which the crimson haired girl began to get equally competitive about. Roxas joined in; between him and Kairi attempted to talk Xion into joining in, which the brunette had no choice but to do so. Vayne walked back over to her area and she smiled at him as he approached her.

"Okay," Vayne said cheerily. "I asked everyone else what kind of pizza they wanted and now it's your turn."

"Hmm…" Naminé hummed. "I'll have a three meat pizza."

"So that makes two Island pizzas, one Cheese Lover's, one pepperoni, a Meat Lover's, one Stuffed Crust and one supreme." Vayne counted off each one with his fingers. "I'll have to write these down so I don't forget."

"Are you going to order them from here through the phone or are you gonna order at the pizzeria?" She asked as she got up from her seat.

"I'm going to the place." Vayne answered. "I can't swim and I gotta make myself useful, you know?"

"Do you mind if I go along with you?" She rasped.

Vayne shook his head. "The more the merrier!"

_His smile kind of reminds me of Sora…_

The redhead turned around to face the pool group. "Guys! Snow and I will be right back!"

Naminé noticed how immediately both Roxas and Riku's expressions hardened, Kairi and Xion also looked a bit worried. The only one completely unfazed was Sora, he was smiling broadly from all the fun he was having.

"Where are you guys going?" Roxas asked loudly.

"We're gonna go bring the pizzas!" Vayne replied. "We won't take too long!"

Naminé knew that neither Roxas, Riku, Xion nor Kairi would let her go with Vayne alone. And sure enough, all four of them started swimming towards the edges of the pool. Riku was the first to step out and he quickly walked over to Naminé and Vayne.

"I'll go with you guys." He said instantly.

Naminé wanted to face palm, but instead she looked right into the silveret's eyes. "There's no need for that, Riku. Vayne and I can take care of it, you go back into the pool and have fun."

"No, I really think I should go." Riku insisted.

"It's okay, really." Naminé said assertively. "We'll be fine."

She turned around and walked inside the house, hoping that Riku would desist from his stance. She heard footsteps from behind her; she was quite relieved to find Vayne looking right at her. Her relief was only brief as she examined his expression, he looked very thoughtful and a little blue.

"Snow…" He said softly. "I think you should stay here."

"What?" She frowned.

"I get the feeling that Riku doesn't trust me very much." Vayne elaborated. "His attitude pretty much screamed it."

"Don't mind him." Naminé said bracingly.

At that precise moment Riku, Roxas, Xion, Kairi and even Sora walked up to the glass door. And once again, everyone but Sora looked apprehensive.

"We kinda forgot to give you the munny." Sora said sheepishly. He stepped into the carpeted floor of the parlor, dried the bottom of his feet and then bolted into the house. Roxas and Riku did the same, while Kairi and Xion looked at Naminé expectantly.

_They probably want me to head back outside…_

But Naminé turned around so that she wasn't facing them, but she did note that Vayne looked incredibly uncomfortable.

_Poor guy, all he was doing was being friendly._

The two cousins and the silveret returned not long after and gave Vayne more than enough munny for the food. Vayne gave them a quick smile and then excused himself. They could hear the Cadillac starting and then they heard the vehicle pulling out of the driveway.

A few moments of awkward silence passed before Kairi spoke up to break the tension. "So…last one to the pool is a rotten egg!"

The childish taunt was enough to get Sora going, as the energetic brunet ran after the scarlet haired beauty. Xion followed after, though her oceanic eyes lingered on Riku for a brief moment. Roxas and Riku became aware of each other by glaring at one another.

"I'd like to speak with Snow for a moment." Riku said intently. "Alone."

"Funny, I was about to say the same thing." Roxas said sharply.

Riku narrowed his eyes. "I'm sure what you have to say isn't as important."

Roxas raised his eyebrows. "Oh really? And how do come to that conclusion?"

"Because I know so." Riku stated. "Now, if you don't mind, I really need to speak with Snow."

"Like I said, so do I." Roxas turned to face Naminé and grabbed her hand. "Let's go somewhere where he can't butt in."

He began walking when Riku grabbed her other hand and pulled her towards him. "Didn't you hear what I said?"

"Obviously YOUdidn't hear what Isaid." Roxas hissed. "Now let him go."

"Why don't you go and hang out with Xion instead?" Riku said curtly. "You like her, don't you?"

Roxas glared at Riku. "You wish I did, don't you?"

Riku's expression stiffened. "And what would I have to gain from that?"

"You tell me." Roxas said venomously.

"Stop it!" Naminé hissed as she pulled her arms out of their grip.

"You know something here, Riku." Roxas said knowingly. "And you're not sharing."

"I can say the same for you." Riku snapped.

"You both do!" Naminé said frantically. "There, you both know my secret!"

Both guys looked down at her; Roxas looked torn between confusion and anger, while Riku looking furious at Roxas.

"How do you know?" The two men chorused.

Before Naminé could answer Xion walked inside the house looking worried. "Why are you guys taking so long?"

"It's been confirmed that Riku knows Naminé's secret." Roxas said acidly. Riku looked even more furious when Roxas said Naminé's name.

Naminé herself noted that Xion didn't look surprised, but rather unsettled. "…I see." Xion murmured.

"Xion, why don't you take your boyfriend with you so that I can talk with Naminé?" Riku asked her.

The raven haired girl's eyes blinked rapidly, water forming in the corner of her eyes. "My boyfriend?"

"Yeah, he can't seem to take the damn hint." Riku said heatedly.

"Says the guy who enters a girl's room while she's sleeping!" Roxas snapped.

Both Naminé and Riku looked at Roxas; Naminé looked completely confused while Riku glared fiercely at the blond.

"Roxas…what are you talking about?" Naminé mumbled.

"He walked into your room last Thursday while you were sleeping." Roxas replied. "After I left, that is."

"But…" Naminé looked at Riku. "Why would you…?"

"That sketchbook and pencil case that you love so much…" Riku said, his voice softened as he addressed her. "I bought them for you."

Naminé looked back at Roxas bewilderedly. "I thought that you…!"

Roxas shook his head. "I wish I had, but it wasn't me that gave those things to you."

"The note…" She whispered, her heart felt as heavy as lead. "You didn't write it did you?"

"Roxas can't write legibly to save his own life." Riku said scathingly.

"At least I don't barge in to a girl's room like some pervert!" Roxas growled.

Riku moved forward, raising his fist at Roxas. But Xion stepped in before the blond and took the blow of the punch in the back of her head, making her collapse.

"Xion!" Naminé and Roxas screamed in a panic as they kneeled before Xion.

"You fucking asshole!" Roxas roared. He got up but Naminé grabbed his arm to keep from lunging at Riku.

The silveret looked utterly terrified, his emerald eyes looking right at the obsidian haired girl on the floor. "I didn't…Xion, I …"

"What happened?" called a panicked Sora from the outside. He and Kairi came into view and instantly Kairi rushed to her sister's side. "Holy…!"

"Xion!" Kairi gasped. "Xion!"

"What happened?" Sora reiterated, his voice dropping a few octaves.

"I…" Riku stammered.

"I fell." Xion muttered as she slowly sat up. "I tripped on the glass door's frame."

Roxas, Naminé and Riku looked at her in disbelief; Kairi helped steady her sister while Sora ran to the kitchen and then came back with some ice cubes.

"Oh Xion!" Kairi said breathily, her eyes blinking in tears. "Please be more careful!"

"Wow, I thought I was clumsy." Sora said teasingly as he winked at Xion, earning a giggle from the latter.

"That's not what…" Roxas stopped his words when Xion gave him a piercing look. Roxas rolled his lips into a thin line and he got up from the floor.

"What's that, Roxas?" Sora asked.

"That's not what happened." Riku answered. Xion gave Riku a pleading look, Riku walked over to Xion and kneeled before her. "I punched the back of her head."

"What?!" Kairi hissed.

"What the fuck, Riku?!" Sora snapped. "Why would you do something like that?!"

"It wasn't on purpose!" Riku snapped back. "I was aiming at Roxas."

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Sora snarled. "I've had enough of this shit. The two of you have been at each other's throats ever since we were little and I'm fed up with it."

Naminé had only ever seen Sora look so furious when they had encountered Vanitas on Friday night. He truly was a sight to behold.

Kairi and Naminé helped Xion stand up, but when her balance failed her, Roxas caught her. "Let's take her to my room."

"I'll be fine, really." Xion said dizzily. Despite her protests, Roxas picked her up and carried her to his bedroom. Naminé and Kairi walked into Naminé's room to pick up Kairi's beach bag, where Xion's other clothes were at.

"Naminé." Kairi said suddenly. "What happened?"

"Roxas and Riku know that the other knows." Naminé replied.

"When Vayne gets back, you, Roxas, Riku and I are gonna sit down and talk." Kairi said seriously. "I'll ask Vayne to keep Sora busy while we talk."

Kairi and Naminé walked out of Naminé's room and into Roxas's; the petite brunette was wrapped in one of Roxas's towels as she sat on his bed. Kairi placed her bag right next to Xion and smiled at her sister. "Go ahead and change if you want, just don't go to sleep, okay?"

Xion nodded.

"You can use my bathroom if you wanna take a shower." Roxas smiled. "If you need another towel, there's plenty in there."

"Do you need anything else?" Naminé asked sweetly.

"No, I'm fine." Xion replied softly.

"Okay, we'll leave you know." Kairi bent over and kissed her sister's forehead.

Kairi and Roxas left the room first, but as Naminé was about to leave, Xion spoke up. "Naminé, wait."

"Yes?" Naminé looked over at the brunette.

"Riku…" Xion said shakily. "He likes you."

Naminé felt as if a brick had been thrown at her. She didn't know what to say, was there anything that Naminé could say?

"You know." Xion stated quietly. Her brows creased and she looked hurt. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't- I don't want it to be true." Naminé said honestly. She closed Roxas's door and she walked towards Xion. "I don't want him to like me, I want him to like you."

Xion looked down at her lap. "That's not going to happen."

"You don't know that, Xion." Naminé said tenderly.

"No, I do." Xion slowly stood up, a few stray tears rolling down her rosy cheeks. "Look at me Naminé; what guy wants a skinny little nobody? I don't know what possessed me to think that he would like me."

"Xion…" Naminé whispered. "You can't think that way."

"It's true." Xion said determinedly. "And besides, I've barely known him for about two weeks."

"So?" Naminé stood before Xion and looked directly into her eyes. "I've known Roxas for the same amount of time and look!"

"But he feels the same as you do." Xion countered. "That's not the case for me, Naminé."

Xion grabbed her sister's bag and walked past Naminé, making her way to Roxas's bathroom. Naminé felt a heavy pain in her chest as she fought back the urge to cry. Naminé walked to Roxas's door and was surprised to find Riku approaching Roxas's room.

"How's Xion?" He asked concernedly.

"She's…fine." Naminé answered.

"Can I talk with her?"

"She's in the bathroom." Naminé told him. "Unless you want to enter the room while she showers. You don't seem to have a problem entering a room when a girl is sleeping."

Riku sighed. "Naminé, I know that I shouldn't have done that and I'm sorry."

Naminé closed Roxas's door behind her as she stepped out into the hallway.

"I just wanted to leave you a small surprise."Riku said softly. "You had said how you missed drawing and how you wished you had some art supplies. So while everyone else was sleeping I called up a cab and went to the nearest shopping center around here…"

"Thank you." She said cordially. She looked up at him and gave him the best smile she could muster, but she felt far from happy. "Riku…"

"Yeah?"

"Why did you refer to Roxas as Xion's boyfriend?" She asked in a low voice.

"They're always together, so I kind of assumed they liked each other." Riku said. "I'm hoping that they do, anyway."

"Why?" Naminé knew the answer, but she still needed the confirmation.

Riku moved closer to her and took her hands. "Because I was pretty damn sure that Roxas likes you…and if he falls for Xion, then…"

"You and I could be together…" Naminé finished for him.

"Exactly." Riku whispered. He lifted her hand so that it was leveled with his mouth and he kissed it. "I really like you, Naminé. And I swear to you that I'll protect you from anyone or anything."

"Riku, I'm-"

"Hey Riku!" Sora called from the first floor. "Tell Snow and Xion that Vayne's here with the pizzas!"

"I will!" Riku yelled back.

Naminé took the opportunity to remove her hands from Riku's grasp and walked away from him. When she reached the last step on the staircase, she found Roxas walking in to the living room. He was carrying to pizza boxes and upon seeing her, he smiled crookedly.

"Vayne said that you ordered a three meat pizza, right?" Roxas grabbed the box on the top and handed it to her.

Naminé took it and smiled at him. "Thanks."

"Do you wanna eat with me?" He asked tenderly.

"Sure." She said lovingly. "Where should we go?"

Roxas was about to reply when he looked up at the top of the stairs. Naminé looked from over her shoulder as Riku was walking in her direction, his jade eyes watching her. He stopped at the second to last step and much to her shock, Riku took her in his arms.

"From now on," Riku said solemnly. "I will look after Naminé."

Roxas's face darkened. "Too bad for you, Riku. I made her that promise long before you."

Naminé looked up at Riku. "Please don't do this here, Sora's around."

Riku let her go and she quickly moved closer to Roxas.

Kairi walked into the living room at that precise moment and crossed her arms. "I've asked Vayne to keep Sora busy for undisclosed reasons." She walked over to Naminé and smiled faintly. "Can we use your room?"

"It's fine." Naminé replied.

"Thanks." Kairi said tiredly. "Let's go then."

* * *

><p>Roxas was the last to enter Naminé's room, so he closed the door behind him. He watched as Naminé gave Kairi a cream colored shirt to wear over her bikini top. Naminé had placed her own pizza box on her bed, so Roxas did the same. Kairi and Naminé sat down on Naminé's bed, Roxas grabbed the chair from Naminé's desk and placed it closest to the bed then he sat down, while Riku leaned the wall right by Naminé's bed.<p>

"Riku, Naminé told me what you told her on Friday night after we got back from Oblivion." Kairi spoke.

_Wait, was that when I saw them talking in the dining room?_

"She told me how you recognized her from the audition day." Kairi continued.

_Wait, what?_

"What?" Roxas looked at Naminé. "You were there, at the audition?"

Naminé nodded. "It was the same day as my brother's audition."

Roxas's mind reeled. _She was there…on that day? How did I not see her? And why did it have to be Riku of all people to recognize her?!_

"Roxas, Naminé also told me about how you accidently discovered her secret." Kairi said pointedly. Roxas noticed how Naminé's cheeks were a few shades darker than Kairi's hair. "And now that both of you know that the other knows, you're both gonna have to put your own personal problems aside."

_Does she even know that the reason that he and I are at each other's throats is because we both like Naminé?  
><em>_**I find that unlikely, girls never miss those kinds of things. She's probably trying to be discreet or something like that.**_

"Naminé's secret can't be found out." Kairi said seriously. "Her brother's career depends on it."

"How did Roxas find out Naminé's secret?" Riku asked suddenly.

"He entered her room while she was sleeping to give her-"

"Wait, you also entered her room while she slept?" Riku growled. "And you had the balls to call me a pervert?!"

"I knocked on her door!" Roxas snapped. "I only went inside because she was getting a phone call from her brother!"

"It's still the same fucking shit!" Riku snapped back.

He moved away from the wall and walked over to Roxas, the blond got up from his seat and glared furiously at the silveret.

"Guys stop!" Kairi and Naminé yelled.

"No it's not!" Roxas spat. "I had a very good reason for coming in to her room, unlike you!"

Riku pushed Roxas, causing Roxas to fall back on Naminé's chair. "I was giving her a gift, which you didn't even think about doing so! You just came home and fell asleep right away!"

"Yeah, I fell asleep!" Roxas defiantly yelled as he gained his footing and stood up again. "But I fell asleep with Naminé on her bed."

Naminé ran from her place and stood right before Riku and grabbed his arms. "Riku, please calm down."

Riku looked down at her. "You shouldn't let him near you, Naminé."

"So says the pervert." Roxas sneered acidly.

"Roxas, please." Naminé said pointedly. "Don't."

"What did I just say?" Kairi chided. "Didn't I just tell you to put your differences aside for Naminé's sake? Do you think displays like this would help her? Especially out in public?"

Riku backed off slightly, though Naminé still held onto him.

"You guys have a photoshoot the day after tomorrow." Kairi said sternly. "If you guys can't keep from fighting, then I'm going to have to tell Aqua."

"Why Aqua?" Riku questioned.

"Because she'll be able to tell that there's something wrong." Kairi answered. Roxas let out an inward sigh of relief; he was afraid that Kairi would say that Aqua had told him to keep a distance from Naminé. That was one weapon against him that he didn't want Riku to know about.

There was a sudden knock on Naminé's door; the owner of the room finally let go of Riku and then made her way to her door. She opened it slightly and Roxas could she Xion peeking in.

"I can hear Roxas and Riku arguing downstairs." She said in a reprimanding tone.

"Where are Sora and Vayne?" Kairi asked worriedly.

"They're out in the pool area." Xion answered.

"Oh thank god." Naminé sighed.

"Let's go downstairs." Kairi said, giving both Roxas and Riku a pointed glare. She ushered both her sister and Naminé outside the room, before she left.

The two guys glared at one another for a few moments. Roxas grabbed Naminé's chair and put it back in its place.

"Now that you know," Riku said as he walked over to Naminé's door. "I'm gonna make something clear to you; stay away from Naminé."

"And since when do I do as you say?" Roxas smirked. "Besides, trust me when I say that that's not gonna happen. You can't keep me away from her in the same way you won't be able to keep her away from me."

"We'll see about that." Riku glowered as he left Naminé's room, closing the door behind him.

Roxas rolled his eyes unconcernedly. "You'll see alright, Riku."

He opened her door and was greeted by the sight of a beautiful, worried looking blonde. "Hey." He said casually. Naminé ran into his arms and let out a shaky sigh. "Everything's gonna be okay."

She looked up at him and she smiled. "You promise?"

"I promise." He closed the space between them and once again tasted her sweet, soft lips.

* * *

><p><strong>I hope you liked this and if any of you guys read my other story, expect an update soon! <strong>

**Don't forget to read and review! See you over at Hidden Truths! **


	16. I Owe You

**I do not own Kingdom Hearts, Disney or Final Fantasy.**

* * *

><p><strong>Monday, May 25<strong>

When everyone had left Naminé's room, Roxas noticed that Xion had walked over to his door. She had a downcast expression on her face, that not even Kairi's attempt to cheer her up seemed to have an effect on her. Roxas wondered if Xion's sullen mood was caused by Riku.

Roxas scowled. _He doesn't deserve her. She'd be better off with someone else. _

"Hey." Roxas smiled as he neared her. She didn't return his smile, but she did look up at him. "What's wrong?"

_**What's wrong? You seriously did not just ask that, you moron. She's had her heart broken and you stupidly ask her what's wrong?**_

He really did need to watch what he said, but the question came out of his mouth before he could realize what he was even saying.

Xion looked at Kairi, silently asking for some privacy. Kairi smiled tenderly at her sister and walked away. When Kairi was out of sight, Xion let out a long, tired sigh.

"Why didn't you tell me that Riku liked Naminé?" she asked quietly.

"Because I didn't have any concrete proof that he knew her secret." Roxas replied in the same tone of voice. "I had my suspicions, but without evidence…would you believe me?"

Xion's eyes fluttered to the wall behind him. "Probably not."

Roxas walked up to her and held her in his arms but she didn't return his embrace.

"I'm such an idiot." She whispered.

"No, you're not." Roxas said firmly.

"Why did I even think I had a chance with him?" her voice sounded so distant and yet she was right there in his arms. "Guys like him don't go after girls like me."

"Don't sell yourself short like that." Roxas snapped at her. "You're way better than he is! In fact, you're way out of his league!"

"You sound like Axel." Xion said, her voice was clearly holding back a giggle.

"I'll take that as a compliment." Roxas smirked. "After all, he's an awesome guy."

"That's because you don't know him as well as I do." She said dryly. Roxas could imagine Xion rolling her eyes. "You're gonna see him as he really is and you're gonna be disappointed."

Roxas found that highly unlikely. If anything, from the way Xion spoke about Axel it sounded the exact same way Roxas spoke about Sora in a teasing manner. It couldn't have been clearer to him that Axel was the older brother Xion didn't have biologically. But then again, sometimes people who aren't related to you end p being closer than those you're tied to by blood.

The two of them pulled apart and smiled at one another.

"Xion, can you promise me something?" When she raised an inquisitive brow, he added, "Please?"

"What is it?" she asked in a reserved tone.

"Don't waste your time on Riku anymore." He said in a serious voice. "And don't ever think that you're beneath anyone ever again, okay?"

"…I'm not sure I can keep that promise." She said seriously. "It's not easy for me to think highly of myself."

"We gotta work on that." Roxas smiled tenderly. When Xion continued to look apprehensive he ruffled her hair with both hands. "Hey don't give me that look Missy!"

"Stop it!" She laughed. "Roxas stop!"

"Aw, look at you two!"

Both Roxas and Xion jumped at the sound of Sora's voice. The brunet was smiling broadly at his cousin and the petite brunette, a smile that indicated trouble.

"You guys are so cute together!" Sora said with the doofiest smile Roxas had ever seen.

"Uh…" Xion was blushing slightly but other than that she looked nervous. "It's not what you think."

"Uh huh…" Sora said slowly. "Like I can't tell what's going on here."

"You really can't." Roxas said. "You're totally looking at this the wrong way."

"Sure I am." Sora said, clearly unconvinced. "Just don't forget to invite me to your wedding!"

Xion's jaw dropped in shock and Roxas facepalmed.

"Riku was right about you two." Sora chuckled. "He said that you guys liked each other."

At the mention of the silveret's name, Roxas's gaze hardened and Xion looked away.

"He said that?" Xion asked in a hollow voice.

Sora could tell he had said something wrong the moment that Xion spoke. He saw the instant change in Xion's demeanor and he took a step forward towards her. "Are you okay…?"

"Riku doesn't know anything Sora." she quietly replied. She turned to look at Sora and gave him a thin smile. "Don't believe everything he says."

With that, she walked past both cousins without saying anything else.

"Is she okay?" Sora asked worriedly. "I think I just put my foot in my mouth."

"Yeah, you really did." Roxas said succinctly. "Just do her a favor and…try to avoid mentioning Riku around her."

"What did he do to her?" Sora's voice lost its joviality.

"I honestly wish I could tell you." Roxas answered. "But it's not my place to say anything."

"Right." Sora huffed irritably. "Just add that to the growing list of 'Things Sora Can't Know', it's not like it matters."

"Sora…" Roxas said softly. "I really wish I could tell you everything, really I do."

Sora rolled his eyes and he shook his head. "Whatever."

His cousin walked past him and Roxas exhaled loudly. How did all of this happen? How could one secret snowball into so much trouble?

_The root of all these problems is Riku and I falling for Naminé. If that hadn't happened…_

Yes, it was true that if neither one of them had fallen for the lovely blonde none of this would be happening. But he honestly couldn't have even in his wildest dreams predicted that he would've fallen in love with a girl dressing up as a guy. And he also didn't think that Riku could have imagined this, but it happened.

He heard footsteps approaching him and Roxas looked up; Riku was walking towards him with a stony expression. Roxas's own face hardened upon seeing the tall silveret.

"What do you want?" Roxas asked curtly.

"We need to talk about this whole situation." Riku said dryly, as if it were the obvious.

Roxas raised an eyebrow. "Fine."

"Not out here." Riku said. He looked around and saw that Roxas's own room was nearby. "Let's go to your room."

Roxas led his way to his own room and opened the door. Once the two were inside, Roxas closed the door and looked at Riku.

"Let's not ignore the elephant in the room." Roxas said shortly. "You and I both like Naminé."

"True." Riku grunted. "And neither one of us is going to back down."

"Yup." Roxas said. "So what's gonna happen?"

"I think you'll find it's in our best interest for the three of us if you and I agree not argue over Naminé." Riku said seriously. "Especially when we're out in public."

"That goes without saying." Roxas said dryly, rolling his eyes at Riku. "But I think you'll find that it's pretty obvious that Naminé likes me back."

Riku's nostrils flared and he balled his hands up into fists. "I think you'll find that there's a good chance that you're misinterpreting things and that she's just being friendly to you."

Roxas shook his head, completely amazed at Riku's denial. "Whatever helps you sleep at night, man."

Riku scowled. "That kind of attitude is what causes so many problems."

"Oh, like you don't get confrontational?" Roxas hissed. "And while I'm at it, what is it with you telling others that Xion and I are together?"

Riku's expression softened a little. "You guys are always together."

"And so by that logic, you're hoping that she and I will _actually _get together." Roxas said in a pleasant voice. "That way you will be able to make your move!"

Roxas crossed his arms and then glared at Riku. "…and the thing is, you're hurting someone's feelings in the process without giving a shit."

"What?" Riku looked genuinely confused. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"It doesn't matter." Roxas said dismissively. "She's way out of your league anyways."

Roxas walked over to his door and opened it again, making it unmistakably clear to Riku that he needed to leave. Riku certainly didn't need more than that hint to know he had overstayed his welcome.

"You mean Naminé?" Riku was still confused.

"She's another person that's also out of your league." With that Roxas closed his door after Riku left.

Roxas exhaled and leaned against his door for a few moments. No sooner had he moved, someone knocked on his door.

"Hey." Roxas smiled upon opening his door and seeing Xion.

"Kairi and I are leaving." Xion said in a small voice. "Vayne offered to drive us home."

"That's pretty cool of him." Roxas said. "…I'm sorry all this shit happened."

Xion shrugged. "It's okay. I feel like all of this needed to happen so that I could stop lying to myself about Riku and I."

"Seriously Xion, you're way too good for him." Roxas said earnestly. "He doesn't deserve you."

Xion gave Roxas a sad smile. "You're saying that because you're my friend."

"And as your friend I care about you and want what's best for you." Roxas said tenderly as he took Xion in his arms. "You'll find someone better than him, trust me."

Xion returned his embrace and sighed into his chest. "I guess."

"You're feeling down right now, but trust me." He said bracingly. "In a short time, it'll be like you never felt anything in the first place."

Xion managed to give him a more genuine smile this time. "I hope so."

The two walked back downstairs, Roxas kept an arm around her the whole time. He didn't care one bit that either Sora or Riku saw; Roxas's eyes sought Naminé's. The moment their eyes found each others, Naminé smiled at him. She was unfazed by what he was doing and that made Roxas smile.

The four of them bid their goodbyes to the two sisters and Vayne. Once the three of them had left, Sora sighed loudly and then he walked upstairs.

"Why is he so blue?" Naminé asked. Roxas noticed that she wasn't rasping anymore.

"I'm assuming it's because Kairi left." Riku said.

The three of them stood there in the living room as a thick blanket of awkward silence covered them. Naminé kept looking at both Roxas and Riku apprehensively, like as if she was afraid that they would start fighting again. Roxas looked over at Riku and saw that he noticed Naminé's expression.

"Naminé." Riku said. "Roxas and I talked."

And with that, her apprehension went straight into worry.

"Don't worry, we'll be on our best behavior." Roxas said reassuringly. "But I do have to ask you one thing."

Both Naminé and Riku looked at him; Naminé looked confused and Riku furrowed his brows.

"I think we need to set this straight." Roxas said with a smirk.

"Are you serious?" Riku snapped. It seemed that he caught on already. "You want to do this now? Right now? Sora's home!"

"I think you need to hear this now, Riku." Roxas said lightly.

"Oh." Naminé gasped. Her cheeks burned brightly. "Roxas…"

"He needs to hear this, Naminé." Roxas said softly.

Naminé remained quiet for a few moments, her eyes full of guilt as she looked at Riku. "Riku…"

"Why did you ask me about what kind of girls I like?" He sounded really hurt. "You asked me that and you seemed so interested."

"I was interested." Naminé said honestly. "But I wasn't asking for my benefit."

Roxas knew that she had asked on Xion's behalf, that was the only logical explanation.

Riku looked away. "I see."

"I'm so sorry." Naminé said tenderly. "I'm so, so sorry."

Riku said nothing and he walked away, heading upstairs.

"Why did you do that?" Naminé asked him.

"He needed to know." Roxas replied. "If he thought that he stood a chance, he'd get more confrontational."

"I would've like to have told him on my own terms." She said tiredly. "Not like this."

She walked past him but stopped when she got to the third step of the staircase. "We have to be careful around Aqua."

"I know." He replied as he walked towards her. When he was right next to her, he wrapped his arms around her and rested his head against hers. "But as long as you're with me, I know it'll be fine."

Naminé looked at him and smiled. Roxas leaned in and kissed her lips softly.

**Wednesday, May 27**

Roxas stretched lazily, yet contentedly on his bed. He slowly got up, let out a satisfied yawn and then made his way to the bathroom. He looked at his reflection and raised his own eyebrows; despite having slept so soundly, he looked like he hadn't slept in over twenty four hours. He walked over to his faucet, turned it on and then splash water on his face several times. He looked in the mirror again, frowned and then walked out of his bathroom. The blond exhaled deeply as he scratched the back of his neck. He stood right beside his bed and looked at the ceiling, letting his mind wander.

_**What are you gonna do now? Riku isn't going to let this go. He's gonna fight for Naminé now more than before.  
><strong>__I know, I have to do something to sow him that Naminé just isn't interested in him. She likes me and he's gonna have to deal with that.  
><em>_**It's like you forgot how stubborn Riku can be.  
><strong>__I can be just as stubborn!  
><em>_**So what's the plan, then?**__  
>Simple: Riku's gotta fall for another girl.<br>__**Yeah, because in no way does that make you look like an asshole. Just throw some poor girl in Riku's way just so that he can stop looking at Naminé. **_

He saw his cell phone on his dresser and then checked it in the off chance there were any messages. There was, about two messages from Axel.

**Axel: Hey man, you're in big trouble.**

**Axel: Dude get back to me ASAP. **

Roxas's eyes widened. _Oh shit, what happened now? _

**Roxas: What's up man?**

Roxas waited a few moments then he got a reply.

**Axel: Vexen has printed an article on his news site about you guys.**

_What the hell? Why?_

**Roxas: What does it say?**

**Axel: It claims that Snow is a girl and that you're all sexually abusing "her". **

Roxas's jaw dropped.

_What the fuck?! Are you shitting me?!_

**Roxas: Why the fuck would he do that?!**

Roxas bolted out of his room and began pounding loudly on Naminé's door. "Open up!"

When he received no answer from her he resumed the pounding on her door. "Please open up!"

"What the hell are you doing?!" Riku's voice snapped; he had clearly heard all the noise Roxas was making. "Do you want Sora to hear you?!"

"I got a message from Axel." Roxas said anxiously. "You remember that Vexen guy that no one likes?"

"Yeah." Riku said, not sure of where this was going.

"He wrote an article about us," Roxas said as he looked back at his phone. "He says that Snow is a girl and that all three of us are sexually abusing her."

Riku's jaw dropped. "Are you fucking serious?"

**Axel: Here's the link to the article.**

Roxas clicked the link on his phone and his eyes widened in horror.

_**"Secrets of the Rising Stars- Kingdom Hearts Records' new group have a terrible secret that is now out in the open.**_

_**By Vexen Even Prince**_

_**The Keyblade Warriors is the newly signed group by the most well known of record companies in the business, Kingdom Hearts Records. The group consists of Roxas, the rebellious leader, his cousin and drummer Sora, bassist Riku and lastly the epicene Snow.**_

_**Many fan polls around the internet have been asking the most important question, which one of the four is the hottest?**_

_**The results have been shocking as the effeminate Snow has been beating his band mates by a landslide. But little does the public know that "the hottest" member is not even male. **_

_**That's right ladies and gentlemen; Snow Martin is in fact a female. **_

_**The Chilly Academic will now reveal to the public the truth; that the feminine looking member looks that way because he is really a she. As it turns out, Snow wanted nothing more than to have her own singing career. However, execs at the company said that the esteemed president Xemnas St Peter had rejected her initially due to obvious lack of talent. A very wise decision that was unfortunately, ignored. **_

_**And so Terra Dohring, the current manager for the group, went behind Xemnas and still hired Snow. Forcing the poor girl to cross-dress in order to keep her around, he also told the other members of the group her secret. The "throat infection" the Snow has been reported to have is merely a ruse to hide her natural female voice. **_

_**I can now exclusively reveal the sheer horrors that Snow has to face now that she lives with her new band mates. A source close to the group has informed me that in order to keep her secret, Snow is being forced to do sexual favors in exchange for their silence. I cannot emphasize my own disgust and horror enough. **_

_**A poor young girl is being not only forced into cross-dressing to achieve her dream, but to endure sexual harassment from her own fellow band members to uphold this secret. **_

_**My heart goes out to Snow and I hope that my loyal readers will join me in a boycott against the Keyblade Wielders. Especially since their big debut album will be released at the end of the month."**_

Roxas's hand shook with anger. He handed his phone to Riku so that he knew what they were up against when Naminé finally opened her door.

She looked like she had woken up a few minutes prior, her cerulean eyes hadn't even focused yet.

"Morning Roxas…" She yawned. She blinked slowly when she took notice of Riku and raised an eyebrow. "Hi Riku."

"We're in big trouble." Roxas said urgently. He didn't even wait for her to respond before he entered her room and pulled on Riku's shirt so that he also entered her room.

"What's going on?" Naminé asked concernedly.

"That son of a bitch!" Riku snapped. "How the fuck could he write this shit?!"

"What are you talking about?" Naminé looked from Riku to Roxas.

"Show her. She has to know." Roxas said.

Riku looked at her and handed her Roxas's phone. "I think you should sit down."

Naminé took Roxas's phone and sat down at the edge of her bed. She gave Roxas and Riku uncertain looks and then proceeded to read the article.

Riku turned to Roxas. "We have to let Sora know."

"How much of the truth should we tell him?" Roxas asked.

"We don't have to tell him the whole thing." Riku replied. "We don't have to tell him Naminé's identity, just tell him about the article."

"I wonder if Kairi, Xion Aqua and Terra know about this already." Roxas said thoughtfully.

"If Axel knows I think it's pretty safe to assume that they know." Riku said. Though he still pulled his cell phone from his jeans pocket and began dialing. "I'll call Terra first."

Roxas looked back at Naminé and his heart sank; she looked absolutely appalled, her eyes kept widening and her lips were shaking. She dropped his phone as she burst out in tears and hugged herself. Roxas ran to her and took her in his arms and kissed her forehead several times.

"Why would he do this?" She sobbed. "I didn't do anything to him!"

"I know." Roxas said softly. "I know you didn't."

She wrapped her arms around him and sobbed onto his chest. "What am I gonna do?"

"Terra?" Riku's voice made both him and Naminé look over in Riku's direction. "Roxas and I just read an article that that fucking asshole wrote about Naminé."

Roxas raised his eyebrows and Naminé gasped. Neither one of them was expecting Riku to use her real name and therefore expose the fact that he knew her secret.

"Yes, I know who she really is." Riku said impatiently. "Look, it doesn't matter how long I've known! What matter is what that shithead wrote!"

Roxas and Naminé watched as Riku paced around her room, his face setting in with frustration. He glanced over at Naminé and gave her a softer look, offering as much reassurance as he could before he resumed his conversation with Terra.

"Wait, what?" Riku snapped. "What are you talking about?"

Whatever Terra was telling Riku on the other end, it didn't look like good news. Riku looked more pissed off by the second, his green eyes unable to focus as he was taking in what he was being told.

"Are you serious?" Riku turned a sudden shade of pale. "Right now?"

Roxas sat up straight but didn't let go of Naminé.

"Okay." Riku closed his eyes. "I'll tell them."

Riku hung up and opened his eyes to look at Roxas and Naminé. "Xemnas wants to see you Naminé."

"What?" Roxas stood up from his spot. "Why?"

"He wants to talk to her alone." Riku said lowly.

Naminé shook her head. "No."

"There's not much of a choice." Riku said morosely. "He's the company president."

Naminé buried her face in her hands. She jumped slightly when Roxas's phone vibrated near her feet.

Roxas picked up his phone and answered it. "Hi Xion."

"Roxas, have you seen the article that Vexen wrote?" she asked immediately. "It's all over the news!"

"The news?" Roxas echoed. Naminé and Riku looked at him in shock. "You mean it's all over the TV?!"

"The TV, internet and radio stations!" Xion replied exasperatedly. "It's everywhere!"

"Fuck!" Roxas hissed. He saw that Riku was now holding Naminé, but for once it didn't bother him. Naminé needed the support, and if anything, Roxas was glad that Riku was holding her.

"What are you guys gonna do?" Xion asked worriedly.

"Terra told Riku that Xemnas wants to talk to Naminé." Roxas answered gravely. "Alone."

"Oh god." Xion whispered.

"What's the word in the office?" Roxas asked.

"There seems to be mixed opinions." Xion replied slowly. "There's some really negative things being said about you guys and there's some support. See, most of the artists here have already had experience dealing with Mr. Chilly Asswipe and know how much of a douche bag he is."

"So they don't believe any of this sexual harassment shit?" Roxas asked hopefully.

"I can't say for sure." Xion said hesitantly. "But what I do know is that most of them think that Vexen is making stuff up in order to remain relevant in the public's eye."

There was a knock on Naminé's door and Riku quickly ran to it. He opened the door slightly and Sora walked in, holding his own phone in his hand. His face was lighter than the rest of his skin; his eyes were wide in fear and he kept mouthing soundlessly like a fish out of the water.

"Sora, what's wrong?" Riku asked his best friend.

"Mom and Dad." Was all he could manage to say.

Roxas's heart skipped several beats. "Are they okay?!"

"What's wrong?" Xion asked worriedly.

"The TV…" Sora mumbled. "They saw something on TV."

At once Riku and Roxas understood. Especially when Sora's eyes found Naminé, he looked at her in disbelief. It wasn't hostile, he was simply confused.

"You…you're…a girl…?" Sora croaked.

Fresh tears began cascading down Naminé's face as she nodded. "I'm sorry!"

"What's going on Roxas?!" Xion was completely panicked at this point.

"Sora knows." He answered.

"Oh…" Xion's voice cracked a bit.

"I have to go Xion." Roxas said blankly.

"Okay." She replied. "Keep me updated."

"Alright, bye."

"Bye."

And with that she hung up. Roxas looked over at his cousin who was still looking at Naminé in shock. The poor girl had her face buried in Riku's chest as the silveret held her tightly.

"How long have you guys known?" Sora asked in a detached tone. It was eerie hearing Sora's normally jovial voice sound so deprived of emotion.

"I found out two weeks ago." Roxas answered.

"I've known from the beginning." Riku relied.

"And you guys didn't tell me why?" There was one emotion that had made its way onto Sora's voice: irritation.

"Because it wasn't our secret to tell." Roxas said cautiously.

The ice in Sora's voice melted when he looked again at Naminé. "Why didn't you tell me, Snow?"

"No one w-was supposed to know." She hiccupped as she turned her head so that she was looking at Sora directly. "They only found out because I messed up and I was careless."

"This is what you guys have been keeping from me?" Sora sounded so hurt, so betrayed. "All three of you?"

"Kairi, Xion, Terra and Aqua know about it, too." Naminé said slowly.

"So I was the only one left out?" Sora's voice lowered. "You didn't trust me...?"

"It's not like that Sora!" She pleaded. "No one was supposed to know and I just didn't want to cause any trouble!"

"Sora…" Riku said slowly. "Roxas and I told her not to tell you anything."

Sora looked at his best friend then at his cousin bewilderedly. "Why would you guys say something like that?!"

"Because you've never been good at keeping secrets…" Roxas said guiltily.

"Well thanks a lot!" Sora snapped. "It's good to know what my fucking best friend and cousin think of me! You guys are supposed to have my back, not stab it!"

"Sora…" Riku began to speak, but one glare from Sora silenced him.

"Sora…" Naminé said shakily as she stood up. "Please don't be angry at them."

Sora's expression softened. "I'm not mad because they didn't share your secret with me. I'm mad that they think so little of me."

"That's not what I meant!" Roxas said defensively.

"You said that neither one of you thinks that I can keep a secret!" Sora hissed at Roxas. "There's no other way to interpret that Roxas!"

"Sora." Naminé said softly. "My name is Naminé."

All three of them looked at her.

"I'm here posing as my twin brother, Snow." She continued. "He injured himself and was unable to be here, so I take his place so that his career wouldn't end so quickly."

"You don't have to tell me…" Sora said sweetly as he walked to her. He placed his arms on her shoulders and smiled warmly at her.

She shook her head. "You deserve to know."

Sora hugged her. "Thank you…Naminé."

Roxas and Riku watched as both Sora and Naminé cried silently. No one said anything; there was no need to…

Slowly Sora and Naminé broke apart, Sora wiped Naminé's tears and gave her a toothy grin that made her giggle.

Sora looked at his cousin and his best friend. "What happens now?"

"Xemnas wants to talk to Naminé alone." Riku replied stiffly.

Sora's eyes widened in panic. "What? Why?"

"We don't actually know." Roxas answered. "But I'm assuming it has something to do with what Vexen wrote."

"That jackass." Sora hissed. "Did he honestly just write that because he didn't get his 'exclusive first interview' with us?"

"Wait…" Riku said suddenly. "Sora, you're a genius!"

Even Sora raised his eyebrows skeptically. "I am…?"

"That's the real reason why Vexen wrote that article!" Roxas felt like a jolt of electricity had been injected into his system. "He said so himself that he'd find a way to get back at us and Terra because Terra gave 'his interview' to Pence and Hayner!"

Riku began dialing on his phone. "Terra? We're gonna head over to the offices right now."

* * *

><p>Naminé couldn't stop fidgeting. Her hands were shaking the whole time that Riku drove their Cadillac Escalade over to the main offices. Her heart was pounding so fast, her breathing was quickening.<p>

"It'll be okay, Nami!" Sora said brightly. "Once we tell Xemnas what that Vexen said on Monday, he'll have to see reason."

"Hopefully Xemnas will be an understanding man." Riku said from the driver's seat.

"Uh guys?" Roxas said as he looked outside his window. "Tell me those aren't paparazzi."

"Oh shit." Riku hissed.

There was a sea of paparazzos right by the main entrance. Riku drove past the HQ and ended up parking about a block away.

"Okay guys," Roxas said as he opened his door. "Hoods up."

All four of them raised their hoodies as much as possible so that their faces were obscured. Naminé was the last one out of the car and she couldn't stop shaking.

"Breathe, Naminé." Roxas said steadily. "Breathe. You'll be okay."

"We have a fool-proof plan, remember?" Riku said soothingly.

"Okay, guys." Sora said as he rapidly texted. "Kairi's gonna meet us at the back entrance. Let's hurry up and get there before the paparazzos do!"

Sora ran ahead of them first, Roxas then Naminé and Riku at the end. It made Naminé wonder if other people would find it odd that four people were running towards Kingdom Hearts Records offices wearing hoodies.

"Okay, we're clear!" Sora said. "I can see Kairi!"

Naminé could see the redheaded girl open the security back door and wave to Sora quickly, indicating them to hasten their speed. They had reached the back parking lot when they heard a familiar voice.

"Say cheese!"

Naminé turned right as a camera flash went off.

"Gotcha now!" Xigbar laughed. "Oh man, this picture is gonna be worth so much Munny!"

"You!" Riku hissed.

"Yup, me." Xigbar smirked. "So tell me boys, which one of you three got to hit it last night?"

"You sick bastard!" Roxas snapped. He was about to lunge at Xigbar, but Naminé held him back.

"Careful now!" Xigbar waved his index finger from side-to-side. "You wouldn't to draw more attention to yourselves now, would you?"

"Guys!" Kairi yelled.

"Come on!" Sora urged them.

"HEY LOOK EVERYONE!" Xigbar yelled as loudly as he could. "THE KEYBLADE RAPISTS ARE HERE!"

_The what?!_

"Go!" Roxas grabbed Naminé's hand and ran for the door.

Riku had barely entered the building when a multitude of flashing lights illuminated the inside of the building. Kairi slammed the door shut in the paparazzos faces and then exhaled loudly.

"What did he call us?" Sora asked shakily.

"The..." Riku said thickly. "…Keyblade Rapists…"

"Guys…" Kairi said worriedly. "Xemnas…he wants to talk to all of you, not just Naminé."

* * *

><p><strong>I really hope this was worth the wait. I'm so, so sorry that I took so long to update, life just got in the way.<strong>

**But I'm back now and I hope that all my wonderful readers will enjoy this! **


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